Saud Al Mohannadi, Secretary General of Qatar Football Association (QFA) and Fadi Zuraikat, Secretary General of West Asian Football Federation, shake hands after signing an agreement in Doha, yesterday. QFA will host the eighth edition of the WAFF Championship in Doha from December 25 to January 7, 2014.
DOHA: The region’s 11 best sides will feature in the eighth edition of the WAFF Championship to be held in Doha next month, Qatar Football Association (QFA) announced yesterday.
The hugely popular football championship will be held from December 25 to January 7, 2014, QFA Secretary General Saud Al Mohannadi said.
Fadi Zuraikat, Secretary General of West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) and Al Mohannadi later signed the competition agreement at Al Bida Towers.
WAFF has 13 member associations. All of them are members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
Besides hosts Qatar, the participating teams include Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen.
Zuraikat said WAFF was confident of watching a ‘well organised event’ in Doha.
“QFA doesn’t need any certificate from anyone when it comes to hosting football events. We know we are in good hands,” Zuraikat said during a press conference.
“This will be a key event for all the participating teams,” Zuraikat added.
Al Mohannadi said: “Young players from each country stand to benefit from such events as they get the much-needed exposure. Having said that, the event is equally important for the senior players as well.”
The QFA Secretary General added: “We are very happy to confirm WAFF’s 8th Championship for Men in Doha. It is without a doubt that this championship is one of the most important events the Qatar Football Association (QFA) will host this season.”
He added: “In coordination with the West Asian Football Federation, QFA has allocated the competition, training venues, and official hotels and is ready to host the championship. All preparations are coming to an end and everyone involved is vigorously working to showcase this championship in a successful manner.”
Zuraikar said: “The organization of the 8th championship in Qatar is a quantum leap in the history of WAFF. We are sure the event will gain in its new edition a great deal of attention from the media, officials and fans in general, which will reflect positively on the level that we will see on the field.” He added: “I would like to add that the championship’s date was finalised after thorough study of all the continental regional events which will take place in 2014. We decided to choose this date since it is ideal for teams that are preparing for the matches of AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, at the same time, in this period the domestic leagues are often suspended in the region.”
Zuraikat said WAFF was working to a well thought out plan to promote football in the region.
“In WAFF we have a practical vision for the development of football, and this will be noticed during the championship. As you know, we always strive to adhere to the highest organization standards applied at FIFA and AFC championships at all our events,” Zuraikat said.
“As for WAFF’s future vision, we are looking forward to win the recognition of AFC for all the four regional federations (WAFF, EAFF, SAFF, and ASEAN), where each regional federation will secure the interests of its member associations,” he added.
He ended the press conference by saying: “Last but not least, we all must have our heads up! Yes, Qatar will be hosting the World Cup 2022. Qatar is the right place and it will prove to the whole world that the Middle East deserves to host such a major tournament.”
WAFF, founded in 2001, is an association of the football playing nations in Western Asia.
Its founding members are Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria.
In 2009, three more associations joined the federation: Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Yemen.
Four other nations of Western Asia namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia joined in 2010.
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