Qatar Establishes New Panel To Monitor Country's Sports Clubs

Qatar "has set up a new committee with wide powers to organise and monitor Qatari sports clubs to improve their performance and professionalism," according to THE PENINSULA. The decision is a step in Qatar’s preparations to host the FIFA World Cup in '22 and Doha’s plans to make a fresh bid for the Olympic Games in '24. The panel "has been given judicial powers to investigate complaints related to sports clubs, monitoring their performance and to take decisions even to dissolve a club and close down its headquarters." The panel will be chaired by Qatar Olympic Committee Secretary General Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Meshaal Nasser Al Khalifa is the vice chairman. Khalil Ibrahim Al Jaber, Mohammad Saad Al Moghaisab and Ali Mohammad, Al Tamimi are the other members. The committee "will be responsible for licensing and relocation of sports clubs." It "will also decide on grievances related to the clubs." The committee "has been authorised to decide on the merger of sports clubs or to dissolve a club and set up a temporary board of directors." It also "has the powers to disband the board of directors of any sports club and appoint a temporary board of directors, in line with the provisions of the law" (THE PENINSULA, 2/10).