11 September 2018 – Doha, Qatar:
Mr. Thomas Donohue, the President and CEO of US Chamber of Commerce, and a delegation of the US Chamber of Commerce and Texas Health - Dallas (THR) had a tour in Aspetar during their visit to Doha these days.
On the occasion of this visit, and rounding off months of preparations and joint discussions between the two parties, Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Texas Health – Dallas organization (THR). The MoU sets for a strategic partnership to create a joint Center of Excellence focused on research, training, performance and sports medicine in the United States, which shall expand the mission and goals of both organizations.
The MoU was signed at Aspetar’s headquarters in Doha by Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, CEO of Aspetar, and Dr. Steven Singleton, Director of Sports Medicine for Texas Health Resources and a physician with Texas Health Physicians Group.
During his tour in Aspetar, Mr. Donohueexpressed his admiration of the prominent level of facilities and expertise that are embraced in Aspetar. Commenting on the MoU signature, Mr. Donohue stated that what brought this collaboration between AZF and THR together is a group of visionaries in Qatar who were aware that the world soccer events will be held here. They had a rich background in sports, medicine, surgeries and rehabilitation and put all that together to build such an example of world class of how to do this. They knew what they needed then was to bring a facility from the USA that is rich with great doctors and surgeons, and this partnership is what is going to make this work. He expressed that this is a real opportunity for collaboration which has not been seen for a long time, but now the two teams succeeded in bringing it to reality.
“We are extremely proud that US THR is interested to collaborate with us to establish an Aspetar-like orthopodeic hospital in Texas, which is a new indication of the proficient level that Aspetar has reached in the field of sports medicine and the international reputation it has gained through its unique expertise.” Said Mr. Mohammed Khalifa Al-Suwaidi, CEO of AZF and Director General of Aspetar.
“We see this collaboration as another sign of the strong and deep relationship between Qatar and the USA on different levels, and the timing couldn’t be better with Qatar being a host of the FIFA World Cup in 2022 and North Texas being a site for matches when the U.S. hosts the World Cup in 2026.For us, this collaboration furthers our progress towards achieving AZF vision to become the Reference in Sports Excellence World-wide by 2020.” Al-Suwaidi added.
“We’re committed to advancing our sports medicine program in North Texas and are excited about what the future holds for athletes in the area,” said Dr. Steven Singleton, Director of Sports Medicinefor Texas Health Resources and a physician with Texas Health Physicians Group.“An organization like Aspire has a strong track record of sports-medicine research, education and advanced orthopedic treatments within an internationally-recognized program.”
The MoU paves the way for three core elements of collaboration through the new affiliation: A Research Programto advance the science of sports medicine and to promote and propagate the services of the CoE; An Outreach/Sports Performance Programdesigned to provide services to and meet the unique but related needs of professional athletes and teams, and collegiate and high school athletes; and Clinical Servicesneeded to support the research, outreach and sports performance programs.
Building off the performance, treatment, rehab and research initiatives Aspetar, a member organization of Aspire Zone Foundation, has undertaken to be a global leader in sports medicine and exercise science in advance of the Qatar hosted 2022 FIFA World Cup, the proposed affiliation will be designed to achieve similar global and regional recognition in advance of the North America hosted 2026 FIFA World Cup.
US high-level delegation included also Khush Chosky, SVP and Head of Middle East Program at US Chamber of Commerce, Chris Roberti, Chief of Staff and Senior Vice President at US Chamber of Commerce, Steve Lutes, Director Middle East Program at US Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Steven Singleton, Chief Medical Medical Office, Texas Health Dallas - USA, Thomas Donohue Jr, Founder and CEO of Adelphi Capital and Gareth Moore, VP of Adelphi Capital.
Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) signs MoU with the Texas Health Resources (THR)
The New Partnership aims to create a sports medicine Centre of Excellence in North Texas