Ambassador of Nigeria to Qatar H E Yakubu Abdullahi Ahmed and NIDO-Qatar President Ajibade Lateef receiving the certificate of affiliation from IWFF Asia and Qatar President, Farhan Al Sheikh Al Sayed.
Doha: Ambassador of Nigeria to Qatar H E Yakubu Abdullahi Ahmed, along with International Walking Football Federation (IWFF) Asia and Qatar president, Farhan Al Sheikh Al Sayed, recently launched the Nigerian Walking Football Club at Al Jazeera Academy in Doha.
Yakubu, Al Sayed, Amara Diane (former PSG player), Miranda Flikkema, member Board of Trustees, Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation, and NIDO-Qatar president Lateef Ajibade took part in an exhibition match at the event.
Al Sayed, presented Ambassador Yakubu and Ajibade with an ‘Affiliation Certificate.’
The ambassador expressed his delight at the formation of the Nigerian team and thanked Al Sayed for his love of the country, while urging the members of the Nigerian team to be good ambassadors and continue to project the country’s positive image.
On the other hand, Al Sayed emphasised that the IWFF Qatar has been working hard to promote the sport by running awareness programmes in the country to educate local and expatriate communities on the importance of living an active and healthy lifestyle.
He stated that Walking Football is one of the world’s fastest growing sports concepts, and that IWFF Asia and Qatar have been busy affiliating countries all over the world to be a part of the club.
Al Sayed expressed confidence that walking football will soon become popular throughout Asia. This one-of-a-kind sport, he added, also encourages youth, women, and people of various ages, as well as ‘people with disabilities,’ to stay fit and active rather than playing online games for long periods of time.
The IWFF Qatar is expected to hold a number of activities in the run-up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which will be held in the country from November 21 to December 18.
Walking Football’s general rules include the following: No running or jogging with or without the ball, no slide tackles or physical contact, the ball must be played below knee height, and the ball must be played below knee height. If a player commits three infringements, he is given a blue card and must leave the game for two minutes; if he returns from the sin bin and commits three more infringements, he is given a red card and is not allowed to play again (sent off); and a penalty kick is a direct free kick.
