The Jordanian players and officials pose for a group photo.
Doha: The 2018 Aspire Embassies Futsal Tournament concluded on Friday following a thrilling final between the teams representing the Embassy of Jordan and Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which ended in a 7-1 win for the former.
A team representing the Embassy of Sudan fought hard to claim third-place after defeating Syria, 5-3. Mohammad Murad from the team representing Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the tournament’s top goal scorer, while Abdul Malek Bairoudi from the Syrian team won the best goalkeeper award.
The final matches and awards ceremony were attended by Amjad Al Mubaideen, Acting Charge d’Affaires of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to Qatar; Said Al Hajri, Assistant Director of the Protocol Department at Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yankuba Ceesay, the Deputy Head of Mission at Embassy of the Republic of The Gambia; Alieu Manjang, First Secretary at the Embassy of the Republic of The Gambia; and Dr. Mohammad Sirajul Islam, Counsellor (Labour) at the Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.
Mohammad Mubarak Al Kuwari, Chief Marketing Officer and Director of the tournament from AZF, along with other members of the organising committee including Abdullah Aman Al Khater, Director of Events and Venues of AZF and Alanoud Al Misnad, Acting Head of Events, welcomed the visiting delegations.
The enthusiastic crowd played a big part in driving the teams on, loudly cheering their support for the players throughout both games.
Commenting on the conclusion of the tournament, Al Kuwari said: “We’re happy for all 16 teams that participated in the second edition of the Aspire Embassies Futsal Tournament with 15 of those that took part representing different embassies and one representing Aspire Zone.”
“The final matches were thrilling, the audience was in very good spirits and everyone who attended enjoyed a wonderful atmosphere. The main aim of this tournament was to give diplomats and representatives from the embassies an enjoyable experience outside of work and the chance to make the most of a fun and relaxing environment,” he added.
Al Mubaideen said: “The teams participating in this year’s event did a great job. Naturally, we’re very proud to win the title. It was a well-deserved victory since the team trained hard in the weeks leading up to it.”
This year, the Aspire Embassies Futsal Tournament 2018 featured 16 teams representing: Algeria, Djibouti, Ethiopia, France, India, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Syria and the United Kingdom, as well as a team from MOFA representing Qatar, and a team from Aspire Zone Foundation.
