Boost for Oman football
Top football players in Oman are going to be recruited for Qatar’s Generation Amazing project
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Oman is among four new countries chosen by Qatar to promote football at the grassroots level, as part of its 2022 World Cup legacy. The football-loving nation joins Kuwait, India and the Philippines in the Gulf state’s expansion of its project called, “Generation Amazing”.
The scheme, which aims to benefit a million people by 2022 and beyond, is being championed by World Cup winner Xavi Hernandez, who this week was named Qatar’s global ambassador for the 2022 World Cup tournament.
The 38-year-old former Barcelona midfielder, who is currently playing for the Qatari side Al Sadd, said, “The Generation Amazing motto would be similar to Johan Cruyff’s motto: ‘If you have the chance to help someone, you should’.”
Hernandez played for Barcelona for 17 years from 1998, winning an astounding 24 trophies, including eight league titles, three Champions Leagues, two UEFA Super Cups, three Copa del Reys, six Spanish Super Cups, and two FIFA Club World Cups.
“I have seen first-hand what football can achieve in communities in Qatar and across the region. Football has the power to unite people, dispel stereotypes and break down social barriers,” he said.
Already, more than 33,000 people in some of the most povertystricken parts of the world in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Nepal and Pakistan have benefited from the initiative.
Football pitches have been constructed in places such as the Al Baqa’a refugee camp in Jordan, with training courses organised for young people living there.
A refugee at Al Baqa’a said, “It was the best experience I ever had. I love football and my teammates. We take the games very seriously, but it doesn’t matter who wins or loses. Everyone plays and has fun. I dream of becoming the best footballer in the world.”
Now, top football players in Oman, Kuwait, India and the Philippines are going to be recruited to expand the project from the original six countries, including Qatar.
For Generation Amazing, Qatar has teamed up with streetfootballworld, a global non-governmental organisation, that seeks “to improve the lives of marginalised young people by using sport, and football, in particular”.
Star power
A Generation Amazing spokesman said, “Every training session we deliver is based around football: to instantly engage people and fix the principles being taught in their minds. Our ambassadors also help to attract interest, with sporting personalities supplying star power and local ambassadors forming a link between us and those benefiting from the training.”
Apart from 33,000 people around the world, Generation Amazing has also reached 35 schools in Qatar, working with 132 sports coaches, 50 youth group football coaches, 15 Qatari football players and workers from seven construction sites across Qatar.
One part of Generation Amazing is “Healthy Generation”, which aims to promote healthy lifestyle changes through games of football.
Middle school student Zainab Osman Awaadelkarim was just 10 when he took part in the Healthy Generation initiative, which has reached almost 150 schoolchildren in Qatar since May 2016.
She said, “I learned that to live a long life I need to stay healthy by eating healthy food and exercising.”
Nasser Al Khater, Assistant Secretary General for Tournament Affairs at the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), said, “Generation Amazing is a unique platform that utilises the power of football as a tool for social development, and forms an important element of the legacy plans we have put in place to ensure that the 2022 FIFA World Cup leaves a lasting legacy in Qatar and beyond.”
Dr. Vladimir Borkovic, Network and Research Director of streetfootballworld, said the plan was to cultivate the perceptions of the “beautiful game” as a force for good.
“With our international network of organisations that use football to change lives each and every day, we look forward to expanding on the groundwork already laid by Generation Amazing to impact targeted communities across the world,” he added.