QM reveals Qatar’s 75-year football history with month-long exhibition
Qatar Museum’s (QM) 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum, one of the most innovative and technologically advanced museums in the region, has announced the opening of ‘Qatar Football History. Discover a Journey of 75 Years’ exhibition at the historic Doha Stadium, sponsored by Acciona Cultura.
The exhibition, which opens today (November 16) and runs until December 19, highlights the Qatari journey in football from the earliest days of playing on pitches made of sand to the opening of Doha Stadium in the 1960s, which was the first grass pitch stadium in the region.
The exhibition was organised in co-operation with the Veteran Players Committee of Qatar Football Association (QFA). Sharing Qatar’s fascinating football history over the past 75 years, the exhibition invites football fans and visitors to explore the first football stadium in the country, watch historic video footage of Qatari legends as well as three-time FIFA World Cup winner Pele playing at the venue, listen to boxing legend Mohamed Ali speaking after a fight at Doha Stadium, as well as allowing them to play on the pitch.
Qatar Football History is organised thematically covering five areas around the start and rise of the game in Qatar, the growth of Qatari football stars at Doha Stadium, the Qatari team of 1981 which surprised the football world on the pitch, hosting of the world’s greatest athletes over the last three decades, and major recent achievements with Qatar winning in 2010 the bid to host the FIFA World Cup Qatar
2022, and becoming Asian Champions in 2019.
3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum president Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdullah al-Thani said: “The Qatar Football History Exhibition provides visitors an opportunity to learn about the history, culture and passion for football in our country. The exhibition holds a unique significance for Qatari fans and also showcases the longstanding love for sports in Qatar and the formation of football stars in maroon over the past 75 years.”
Centred around Qatari football achievements and other sports events that took place at Doha Stadium in the 1960s and 1970s, the exhibition will also showcase displays such as the golden boot trophies of Mansour Muftah as top Arab goalscorer, as well as the bronze foot of FIFA
World Cup winner Pele, and a display including goalkeeping gloves from the Qatar women’s football national team.
3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum director Abdullah Yousuf al-Mulla said: “With Qatar ready to welcome the world for a celebration of global football, we believe this is the perfect time to showcase the country’s proud football heritage and history. I am sure that this exhibition will appeal both to Qatari and local audiences, as well as to those visiting our country and that it will make for a memorable experience for visitors during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.”
Qatar Football History is a cultural extension of the World of Football exhibition, currently on view at the 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum.