DOHA: There is a lack of accountability for sports club administrations in the country and the proposed amendments in the law governing sports clubs are intended to bring them under strict government monitoring, the Minister of Youth and Sports H E Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser Al Ali (pictured) has said.
Presenting the government’s vision on sports clubs at the second meeting of the culture and media committee of the Advisory Council held earlier, the minister was vehemently critical of the way sports clubs are currently being run. The committee was assigned by the Council to prepare a report on the draft law amending law No 5 of 1984 on sports clubs.
“Majority of the sports clubs in Qatar have debts of tens of millions of riyals and their administrative system is outdated,” Al Sharq quoted the minister as saying.
The Advisory Council on Monday returned the committee’s report for further studies. The Council sought a second opinion on the draft law following differences among experts over a provision giving more powers to the club chairman, rather than the board, said the daily.
The Minister said sports activities in the clubs are focused on tournaments that are heavily dependent on foreign players.
The government is spending huge amounts on sports and sports facilities but still Qatar has the highest diabetes rate; 23 percent among children and 15.7 percent among adults, while 70 percent of the citizens are overweight, said the minister. Only seven percent of the Qatari youth go to the sports clubs and 54 percent of the youth don’t practice sports, he added.
He said the ministry wants to reorganise the sports clubs. The Qatari sports clubs are different from those in other countries, because they are fully (hundred percent) supported by the government.
“One of the reasons for amending the law is that currently there is no proper system to make the club administrations accountable and ensure proper monitoring,” said the minister.
He said one of the problems in the current system is that boards (of the clubs) do not meet. The ministry wants to give more powers to the chairman, (instead of the board) because the clubs are being run from “behind the curtains” and the ministry wants to stop this practice.
“The current amendment aims to give more powers to sports clubs and monitor implementation of the government’s sports strategies because the government is funding implementation,” said the Minister.
The new law will allow the chairman to be elected by the general assembly and he will have powers to recruit and assign (staff).
Neither the ministry nor the board will interfere in this.
As long as the government is funding the club, the ministry has the right to audit its expenditures, added the Minister.
Some Advisory Council members expressed reservations on vesting all powers on the chairman and said it will reduce the role of Qatari youth in the clubs.
The ministry wants to make administration of the clubs more formal than social, said a member.
The Peninsula
