Africa-Press – Gambia. Doha – home to mega sports competitions – has become one of the favourite destinations for football teams seeking stops for their overseas training camps. The Qatari capital has been hosting major teams over the years including the winter training camps for several European clubs.
Doha, which has state-of-the-art facilities, is currently hosting seven Asian countries including Australia, Jordan, India, Nepal, East Timor, Oman and New Zealand.
These teams kicked off their training yesterday, with their camps set to continue until June 9.
The visiting sides will also play friendly matches during their stay as they prepare for different upcoming events. Australia are preparing for the Asian World Cup qualifying play-off while the Jordanian team is gearing up for next month’s AFC U-23 Asian Cup finals in Uzbekistan. The rest of the teams are preparing for the final round of qualifiers for the AFC Asian Cup China 2023.
The hosting of these camps comes within the framework of the excellent relations that bind the Qatar Football Association with its counterparts from Asian federations, under the umbrella of cooperation agreements.
Doha has recently also hosted training camps for Algeria, Syria, Ghana and Gambia to help them prepare for the World Cup qualifiers for Africa and Asia, and the African Cup of Nations. Doha has also hosted many important official matches recently, including the Oceania qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, from which New Zealand qualified for the final round.
The Iraqi national team also played their matches in the third round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup Qatar in Doha, following Qatar’s great success in organising and hosting many major tournaments amid the Coronavirus pandemic.
Next month, Qatar will host three crucial FIFA World Cup 2022 play-off matches at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium to decide the final two slots for football’s showpiece event.
The winners of the AFC play-off between Australia and UAE on June 7 will face Peru in a decisive intercontinental play-off on June 13. The other winner-takes-all intercontinental play-off will take place on June 14, with Costa Rica taking on New Zealand for the final FIFA World Cup spot. The FIFA World Cup is still months away but the momentum is already building up, with the upcoming play-offs set to raise the level of excitement.
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