The Day Everything Changed

Maha Al Badr, Qatar

My name is Maha Albadr. I’m a 15-year-old Qatari girl and I grew up in a family that loves sports. I was a player in the Qatar national table tennis team, but my family and I all share the same passion for football.  We all meet up to watch the games, and we support different teams, which makes it even more exciting. I can’t wait until 2022 - I feel so blessed to be able to show the world how prepared and ready and most importantly how happy we are to host the World Cup in 2022. I still remember the day we won like it was yesterday, the 2nd of December 2010. That day changed my whole view of football. I realised how important football is in my community (the Qatari Community), so I’m here to share some of the moments that reflect how much we love football.

Who is in the photos? Where were the photos taken? What were you trying to show?

These are my friends’ cousins and my friends in our neighborhood park in Al Azizya. As soon as we arrived at the park all of them ran to the pitch, took off their sandals and started playing. No one wanted to be the goalkeeper, all of them wanted to run and score. You can see the girls also wanted to play and score as well, because football is not just for boys, girls can also participate. Football is a really exciting game and all of us have the right to enjoy it.

It represents the Qatari culture and how much we as Qataris love football. Football is the only game that we all know and enjoy playing no matter if you are a girl or boy, kid or adult, and football doesn’t have a specific time or place to play it.

There was a group of Qatari kids in Aspire Park. These kids just got out from school and went straight to the park. They tied their Thobe (the traditional men’s clothes in Qatar) on their waist, took off their sandals and put them as a goal and they started playing. Football doesn't always have a specific time or clothes to play it.

I also saw this boy teaching his little sister how to play football in Aspire Park, and it made me so happy to see how he cared about his sister and taught her how to play, even though she is still young. Football can bring the whole family together.

What are the opportunities for female footballers in Qatar? 

Women’s sports in Qatar are starting to get a lot of attention at all levels, which makes a lot of women and young girls want to participate and play sports as a lifestyle, not just for fun. Qatar puts a lot of effort into women’s sport and especially football. The Qatar women’s football championship was created in 2012, and since then women’s football has developed in all ways. The Qatari Women Sports Committee organized a four-day training session for football coaches in March 2019. The topic of women playing football in Qatar is really sensitive, but Qatar and the Qatar Women Sports Committee helped a lot. They have a place for a woman to play, and the Qatari woman can wear her hijab and wear clothes according to the Islamic religion while playing. I think that Qatari women will have a bright future in coaching, playing and governing.

Females get their chance to play any sport they like. Qatar has a female club that supports all women and their favorite sports, and football is one of these sports. Sadly, a lot of people think that the Qatari community is so strict when it comes to women playing sports and especially football. The idea of women playing sports has changed throughout the years. Now the Qatari woman or any woman who lives in Qatar has her own voice to speak, to share her opinion with others and to express herself through anything she likes, including playing football.

What is your favourite photo? Why?

You can see the different expressions on the kids’ faces. Two of them were celebrating and happy and the other was upset. Also you can see how affected our whole community was by the win of our national team at the Asian Cup. The little boy was copying the moves of Almoez Ali, a player on our national team.

What role does football play in Qatari society?

Football plays a big role in my society. Football brings the whole society together. For example, in Ramadan there are a lot of tournaments such as Al-Kass Ramadan Football Tournament. Ramadan tournaments in Qatar have become a much-enjoyed tradition for families to come together. They are played by families, friends or within neighborhoods. We all look forward to it every Ramadan.

What changes are happening in Qatari football culture?

Qatari football now is not like how it was five years ago. It has developed in a positive and remarkable way. Who would have thought five years ago that we will win the Asian Cup or that we will participate in Copa America as strongly and as confident as we did? The Qatar National Football team is currently ranked 62 in the world. The whole view of Qatari football changed, now we are so confident and so proud of our national team and the players. Even kids know what football is and how strong their national team is - they walk around confidently wearing the national team jerseys with their favourite player name and number on it and copy their celebrations.

Are there any good stories connected with the people or teams you photographed? 

This strong young lady is my sister Wadha. It was taken in our house backyard. My sister Wadha had just had a knee surgery, and the doctor told her that she is not allowed to do any physical activity except under supervision of a doctor, which made her a little sad. When she started to get used to the crutches she started to play and walk around happy again. And of course the first game that she played was football. I am so proud of her and she really inspires me to never give up. Football is your own world that you can be the hero of. Nothing can stop you from reaching what you want.

They were three brothers in Aspire Park. I saw these three little boys playing in the middle of summer, but they didn't care about the weather - the only thing that they cared about was the ball getting too far away. Each one of them wore his favourite team shirt, and talked about his favorite player, they were so cute. Football is a way to express who you are.

What is the most surprising or interesting part of Qatari football culture?

Qataris appreciate women as much as men. Women in Qatar can attend matches and support their favourite teams. There is actually a whole section for families and women in all stadiums. Also, there is a women’s football championship.

We as Qataris do not usually wear a t-shirt or a casual outfit. We usually wear our traditional clothes - for men it is the thob and for women it is the abaya. We wear them most places, even to attend matches. To show the team we support we wear scarves around our neck, putting the name or the logo of the team we support on it.                   

Why is football so important for your community?

Football can bring so much joy, happiness and good energy. We will get excited and laugh together, challenge each other and most importantly it brings the whole community together. We get so excited whenever a match is coming. Our Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamed comes to the games and enjoys and supports Qatari football, which makes us want to go and support as well.

What does football mean to you?

Football means a lot to me, it is the first game that I learnt how to play. It is the game that me and all my brothers and sisters used to play in our backyard with my mom and dad. Yes I used to play in the national table tennis team, but football is something different. My family and me love football so much that when Qatar took part in Copa America, we cut our sleep short to wake up at 2am to watch the game and support our national team. It means more than I can explain, I feel so happy when I watch it. That is why I try to teach the next generation what real Qatari football is.

What are your ambitions?

I really want to continue on the football path, because I think that football is one of the most powerful sports in the world. I want to continue not only as a player but as a lover and supporter of football, for example helping or organizing football events – and of course I want to participate in the World Cup.

There are a lot of goals that I want to achieve, such as learning Spanish and Arabic sign language, because one of my goals is to communicate with as many people as I can.

What will be the biggest impact of the World Cup in 2022?

An event like the World Cup takes a lot of effort, thinking and time to make it an unforgettable World Cup. We promised that and are still sticking to our promise, for it to be one of the best World Cups ever. This World Cup will prove to the whole world that Qatar can host big event, and it will be the beginning for more amazing and bigger events that can be attended in Qatar. The people who will come can enjoy our beautiful nature and will know more about the Qatari and Arab culture.

What is the future for football in Qatar?

Football in Qatar has a big future because football never dies. When you go to attend a match in Qatar you will see that most of the fans are kids, which is amazing and shows how the kids are starting to realise the joy of football. This promises a bright future for Qatari football, and you can see how hard Qatar works to make football even more fun.

An Emiri Decree established the Aspire Academy. It is mandated to provide sports training and education to students with sporting potential, in an exceptional learning and sporting environment - most of the players that play in Qatar and in our national football team graduated from Aspire Academy. Aspetar is the first specialist Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital in the Gulf region. It provides the highest possible medical treatment for sports-related injuries in a state-of-the-art facility, staffed by some of the world’s leading sports medicine practitioners and researchers!