Shura Council Speaker H E Hassan bin Abdullah Al Ghanim chairing the council's session yesterday.
Doha: The Shura Council convened yesterday at its headquarters, chaired by Speaker H E Hassan bin Abdullah Al Ghanim.
The session was attended by representatives from various ministries and authorities, alongside sports media practitioners, opinion writers, and individuals interested in social and cultural affairs. At the opening of the session, Director of Sessions and Committees Affairs Department Ahmed Sultan Al Ghanim read out the agenda, with the council endorsing the minutes of the previous session.
The council weighed in on the public deliberation request submitted by a number of Excellencies the members on promoting sport clubs’ activities, as well as their social, cultural, and value-based role.
As such, the Speaker underlined the State of Qatar’s foremost priority, under the prudent leadership of Amir
H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, to dedicate comprehensive care for people, particularly children and young people, as they are the core pillar of building a prosperous and advanced community and achieving Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV2030).
Al Ghanim recalled Article 22 of the nation’s constitution, stipulating that the country takes care of the younger generation and shields it from causes of corruption and exploitation, as well as physical, mental, and spiritual negligence, offering them the appropriate conditions to grow their abilities across various fields, guided by proper upbringing.
The nation’s attention to people is manifested in the remarkable progress it has witnessed throughout the past decades in multiple sectors, foremost of which is the sport sector, with the nation harnessing all human and material potential, culminating in a world-class sport infrastructure, Al Ghanim noted.
He further indicated that the Qatari younger generation has achieved sport milestones both on the regional and global stages, notably the increase in the number of professional and societal sports practitioners in the country.
For their part, Excellencies the members emphasised that the role of these clubs cannot be ignored in social upbringing, which vividly complements the roles of family, school, mosque, media, and other community institutions. The members addressed the multiple contributions of those clubs in all societies, noting that these kinds of sport institutions help explore and care for sport talents and efficiently qualify them to represent their national teams, while socially reinforcing relationships and engagement between their members and residents, as well as the productive use of leisure time, contributing to the enhancement of physical and mental well-being.
They further noted the educational and ethical roles of those clubs through instilling values of patriotism in young people, in addition to fostering the spirit of collective work, punctuality, and discipline, which ultimately help build their positive character to be effective community members.
They also emphasized collaboration with youth centers nationwide under the Ministry of Sports and Youth to organize joint community programs, indicating that club custodians should balance their focus on football and other sports with broader community and cultural activities.
It is essential to integrate clubs with educational and cultural institutions and civil society organizations to unify efforts, leverage available resources, and serve young people while achieving the shared objectives of these enterprises, the members stressed.
Partnership with the private sector is imperative to support social clubs’ activities to avoid complete dependence on state budgets, in pursuit of providing additional income resources, achieving financial independence, and advancing various societal activities, the members concluded.
They called on the curators of these clubs to project their roles in serving the community and promoting their cultural and social activities, as well as voluntary programs through a variety of media outlets, including digital platforms to reach all community segments. During the session, the council approved the draft legislation amending certain provisions of Law No. (25) of 2018 on selective tax and referred it to the government.
