The Peninsula
Qatar Airways yesterday signed a partnership agreement with the Qatar Football Association (QFA), demonstrating its commitment as the Official Airline Sponsor of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup champions.
The contract renewal will see the country’s national carrier partner with QFA for the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons, ahead of the much-anticipated FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
To commemorate this partnership, both Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive H E Akbar Al Baker and QFA President Sheikh Hamad bin Ahmed Al Thani attended a signing ceremony yesterday.
The players and coaching staff across all national team age groups have been engaged with several overseas tournaments. The senior team has recently participated as a guest nation in the FIFA World Cup European Qualifiers, competing with Azerbaijan, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Serbia in Group A.
Following a successful debut in the 2019 CONMEBOL Copa America; the senior team have also fared well in international tournaments such as the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2021 in the United States, reaching the semi-finals. The team finished Group E of the 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers in pole position.
Meanwhile, The U-23 national team carried on the legacy by securing qualification to the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup set to take place in Uzbekistan.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, H E Al Baker, said: “Our support towards Qatar Football Association stems from our country’s collective passion for football. We want to stay true to our mission of bringing people together through the power of sport, and what better way to do that than sponsor our national football teams. Our national teams have gone from strength to strength competing with the world’s best in recent years. We want to continue supporting them with every step of their journey.”
QFA President Sheikh Hamad said: “Qatar Airways is considered a key partner in continuously providing high-quality service always exceeding our expectations. We want to thank the airline for its support of sports associations, in general, and football, in particular.”
He added that he was pleased with the partnership renewal with Qatar Airways for two additional years to sponsor the national team.
“The renewal of the partnership was ideal, as the national team prepares for the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021 and the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Our partnership illustrates both organisations’ vision to have a direct positive impact on the game’s development. As a national pioneer association, the QFA is constantly committed to developing strategic partnerships with major entities in Qatar to ensure that football acts as an effective tool to help achieve the National Vision 2030, and therefore, our partnership with Qatar Airways reinforces this goal.” he said.
From November 30 to December 18, Qatar Airways will sponsor the Arab Cup, the region’s showpiece tournament featuring 16 Arab nations.
Qatar Airways Holidays has launched extensive travel packages for the inaugural tournament, welcoming global football fans to enjoy the finest Qatari hospitality and follow their favourite team in person. Fans are offered the flexibility to build their own package which includes flights with Qatar Airways, the Official Airline Partner of FIFA.
The ‘Build Your Own’ feature gives them the functionality to choose their preferred travel dates, hotel accommodation and match tickets. Fans can discover and book the packages by visiting https://www.qatarairwaysholidays.com/arabcup.
Qatar Airways sponsored the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup and the UEFA Euro 2020. The airline has also an extensive global sports partnership portfolio that includes football-governing bodies such as FIFA, CONCACAF and CONMEBOL.
As FIFA’s Official Partner, Qatar Airways has sponsored mega events including the 2019 and 2020 editions of the FIFA Club World Cup, and will sponsor the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
Qatar Airways also sponsors some of the world’s biggest football clubs including Al Sadd SC, Boca Juniors, FC Bayern München, K.A.S. Eupen, and Paris Saint-Germain.