9 February 2019 – Doha, Qatar:
In a lively and competitive futsal tournament at Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) dedicated especially for the media, a team from Al-Kass TV celebrated victory in the first edition of the Aspire Media Cup after defeating Al-Rayyan 4-0. Al-Raya newspaper secured third place after defeating Al-Watan in a tense penalty shootout.
The ‘Aspire Media Cup’ kickstarted Aspire’s 2019 Qatar’s National Sport Day (NSD) celebrations and involved more than 60 participating journalists and media personnel from outlets including Al Jazeera Network, beIN Sports, Al Kass TV, Al-Rayyan TV as well as Al Raya, Al Arab, Al Watan, and Al Sharq newspapers.
The tournament was organised by AZF in a bid to ensure that members of the media had a chance to participate in sporting activities ahead of having to dedicate their focus to reporting from various sports events during National Sport Day itself. A lively and good-natured sporting spirit was much in evidence amongst participants during the games.
Mr. Nasser Abdullah Al-Hajiri, Chairman of the National Sport Day Organising Committee honoured the top three performing teams from Al-Kass TV (first place), Al-Rayyan TV (second place), while Al-Jazeera presenter Ali Al-Mosalamanihonoured the third place winner Al-Raya newspaper.
Commenting on behalf of his team’s victory in the tournament, Mohammed Al Kayali, Captain of Al-Kass TV, said: “We would like extend our gratitude to Aspire Zone for organising this excellent tournament. It was a great opportunity for all the media to come together and play sport with one another outside of our hectic National Sports Day schedules.”
The tournament involved a number of Qatar’s renowned media personnel such as the reporter Ali Al-Mosalamani who was very enthusiastic about taking part. Commenting on the tournament he said: “I’m thrilled to participate in the first edition of the Aspire Media Cup. We’re usually competing with our colleagues for the attention of audiences on TV screens, and it made a nice change to take part in a good-natured competition on the pitch. It was great to see so many familiar faces and colleagues from Al Jazeera,Al-Rayyan TVand other Qatari media personnel.”
Saood Al-Maaded a reporter from Al-Rayyan TVwas very complimentary about the tournament and said: “We really enjoyed taking part in this tournament. I would like to congratulate Al-Kass TV for their success. We sincerely hope that more tournaments will be held for media personnel in the future as it is rare to see such activities like this specifically organised for the media in Qatar. We’d like to express our thanks to Aspire Zone for such a great initiative.”
Further details of National Sport Day activities at Aspire Zone will be announced by the Organising Committee in due course and made available to the public through the Life in Aspire mobile application, the Life in Aspire website www.lifeinaspire.qa/NSD and AZF’s various social media channels.
AZF invites all members of the community in Qatar to join its NSD celebrations and enjoy everything the Foundation has to offer in combining sports and physical activity with spectacular events.
This year’s NSD activities at Aspire Zone are sponsored by Qatar Gas and Ideal Solutions (Official Sponsor), QAFAC, KidZania, Aseel, Ali Bin Ali Holding, and Baladna (Event Partners).