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01.09.2009 Sports News

Feature: Qatar pursues sporting goals with aid to Ghana

01.09.2009 LISTEN
By ghanasoccernet.com

Growing up in Accra, Hamza Zak- ari played football for his school on a rough, sandy pitch. There were neither changing rooms nor showers, but that did not stop Hamza harbouring big dreams - to follow in the footsteps of fellow Ghanaians such as Michael Essien by becoming a professional footballer.

 

The 15-year-old midfielder is now one of seven African teenagers who are living and sleeping football at the Aspire Academy in Qatar, a small desert state better known for gas exports than its sporting prowess.

That, however, is something the Qataris are hoping to change - with a little help from potential African stars. The academy is part of a state-of-the-art sporting complex that is a gleaming example of how Gulf states are turning to sport to promote their brand on a global stage.

The Aspire Zone, which claims to house the world's largest indoor sports venue, is one of the most ambitious projects. Neighbours, including Dubai and Bahrain, have invested in infrastructure to bring the world's stars to them - from Formula One motor racing to top class tennis and cricket events, while Abu Dhabi is spending millions to boost the ranks of Manchester City, the English soccer club.

But the ambitions of Qatar are among the boldest. It launched a failed bid for the 2016 Olympics; has bid for the 2018 and 2022 soccer World Cups, and hosted the Asian Games in 2006. It has also been embroiled in controversy for allegedly luring Kenyan athletes to switch nationality.

Yet Aspire, which opened in 2004, is not only about attracting leading sporting events to put it on the world map. A core of its strategy is aimed at developing an indigenous sports culture and "future champions" - in a nation with a local population of fewer than 300,000.

Its targets include a 2015 vision for Qatar to establish itself as a "leader in sports excellence", says Stephen Bourke, deputy managing director. At the heart of its efforts to attain such lofty goals is a youth academy that is home to 200 students, about 65 per cent of whom are Qataris.

About 90 per cent of students are involved in football, while others pursue activities such as fencing, shooting and archery. The goal for football is for Qatar to qualify for the World Cup for the first time and be rated the Arab world's top team - with a little help from the young Africans.

In 2006, Aspire began a three-year programme to bring potential African stars to the Gulf state to raise standards at the academy. In what was touted as the largest football talent search in history, some 430,000 Africans born in 1994 were screened across seven countries, with about 50 selected from each nation to attend trials.

Four lucky players were then selected to move to the academy, which has its own school and living quarters. The process was repeated last year, and given the amount of talent on offer, Aspire opened a mini-academy in Senegal, which is home to 34 teenagers who are provided with accommodation, schooling and coaching.

Rather than staying permanently at Aspire, the academy plans to bring the youngsters to Qatar on a rotational basis.

Michael Browne, Aspire's head football coach, insists the programme is not about luring talented Africans to play for Qatar, but rather it is designed to provide the Africans with an opportunity, while raising the standards at the academy. European football clubs have courted controversy for their treatment of young African players.

"The difference between us and a professional club in Europe is that we are not bringing these boys to make money out of them," he says. "If you said to a boy from England, 'do you want to come and live in Qatar for five years?', they would say 'no'. If you ask an African boy they will snap your hand off."

Hamza backs Mr Browne's assessment. "Ah, this place is beautiful," he says, adding that when his family visited, "they didn't want to go home again".

Mr Browne, who was previously in charge of Charlton Athletic's youth academy in London, says European clubs have shown an interest in the African players. Aspire will look to link them with top teams once the boys have turned 18, but will not seek financial gain should they make it. One of the first Africans to join Aspire, John Benson, is already training with the Ghanaian under-20 team.

But it may be years before Qatar achieves its aims. Mr Browne estimates that there are probably just 250 Qatari boys in each age group who play football seriously.

But "it is certain we will produce better players than Qatar has had in the last 20 or 30 years," he says. "There's no reason that in the next eight to 10 years they can't reach that goal [qualifying for the World Cup and being the top team in the Arab world]."

Source: Financial Times

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