Al-Qadi flying the flag for Rovers at Qatar World Cup

BRISTOL Rovers have a noted ambassador at the World Cup in Qatar with owner Wael Al-Qadi present in the stands for the tournament opener and sporting a Gas shirt.

Wael Al-Qadi, pictured, has been a regular visitor to the tournament and it was nigh-on impossible that he’d miss the first to be held in the Middle East with Qatar just a short three-hour flight from his native Jordan.

The Rovers president posted a number of pictures and videos on Instagram from Doha, and then inside and outside the Al Bayt Stadium and during the national anthems, with the Gas Pirate logo on full display. Qatar were soundly beaten 2-0 by Ecuador in the first game of the tournament which won’t be the last he attends, either.

As well as financing Rovers since 2016 with his family, Al-Qadi is a committed football tourist and, based on one of the pictures posted, the venue for the game in Al Khor, just 30 miles outside the capital Doha, was the 974th stadium he’s visited to watch a game.

As expected, the posts drew plenty of reaction from Gasheads, some enjoying the image of Rovers paraphernalia on the biggest stage but others also drawing reference with the club’s ongoing wait for a new stadium.

There have been no new updates on the status of the development at the Fruit Market in St Philip’s Marsh, which remains Rovers’ preferential site for a new stadium, as first revealed by Wael Al-Qadi in summer 2019.

Trems123 quipped on Instagram: “Getting some ideas I hope”, while Gasheadmillsy added: “Would rather be at the Mem”.

Wael Al-Qadi has close links with FIFA having become an executive board member of the Jordan Football Association in 2014, two years before his family’s purchase of Rovers. He also was a member of the campaign team behind Prince Ali bin Hussein’s unsuccessful campaign for the FIFA presidency in 2016.