Qatar Indian Football Forum (QIFF) president Shamsudheen Olakara (centre), Qatar Football Association’s (QFA) Sponsorship officer Jamale Darjani (right), QIFF general secretary Mohamed Shameen (second from left) and QFA Media co-ordinator Sarah Odeh (second from right) at a press conference announcing 9th Qatar Kerala Inter District Football Tournament yesterday.
By Sports Reporter/Doha
Qatar Indian Football Forum (QIFF), an expatriate organisation to promote sports and football events among Indian community in Qatar, in association with Qatar Football Association (QFA) jointly announced the schedule of the 9th Qatar Kerala Inter District Football Tournament yesterday.
The tournament, which is sponsored by Western Union – City Exchange, will kick off at Doha Stadium on September 17, 2015, at 6pm. A total of 16 football teams, which represent various districts of the state of Kerala in India, will be participating in this year’s tournament. The matches of tournament will be held on Thursdays and Fridays until November 13. The final will be held at Qatar Sports Club stadium.
Both the QFA and QIFF are hopeful that the partnership will contribute to spreading the game of football among different communities in Qatar and the Indian community in particular. The active participation of Indian expats in football and other events organised by the QFA are some of the major goals of this collaboration. The QFA will provide its support to this tournament by providing an official football stadium, and referees.
QFA’s executive director of Operations (acting) Hamad al-Kuwari said: “The QFA is happy to support the QIFF in organising this football tournament as it achieves one of QFA’s main goals which is to create a platform that allows the different communities in Qatar to be able to play football.”
QIFF president Shamsudheen Olakara said: “The Indian community is delighted to receive support from QFA. The Indians living in Qatar understand the value of sports. They are also keen to ensure that the sporting events in Qatar are successful.
“The Indian community is thankful to Qatar Football Association, Qatar Olympic Committee and other sports and security departments in Qatar for their support.
“We, as the expatriate community here in Qatar, are interested in the success of various sports and other events of this country also and we fully understand our commitment towards the success of such events organised by the authorities in this country.”
