BY RIZWAN REHMAT

DOHA: Next month’s 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Doha will help spread the culture of boxing in the country and the region Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) Secretary General Dr Thani Abdulrahman Al Kuwari said yesterday.

Doha will welcome more than 260 boxers from over 50 countries at the October 8-18 event to be held at Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena.

“This event is a qualifying championship for boxers eyeing a berth at the 2016 Olympic Games. This event will spread the culture of boxing in Qatar and the region” Dr Thani said after meeting AIBA officials.

“Once the event starts you will see what it means. How do we spread the culture of boxing? By hosting an event of this magnitude” Dr Thani added.

“This will be the first ever AIBA World Championships edition in the Middle East. For the boxers no other event could be more important at this stage because 23 boxers will qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio” Dr Thani said.

“Just yesterday we launched the 30-day countdown. We thank AIBA LOC members for their efforts. We are at the final stages of our preparations.

“We hope the fan attendance will be fantastic because boxing is reaching out to new audiences. It is a new challenge for Qatar Boxing Federation (QBF) who have been busy with their event awareness campaign” he said.

“We have also kicked off online ticket sales. We have had AIBA officials visit the venue and carry out other inspections” the QOC Secretary General said.

Karim Bouzidi AIBA Executive Director echoed Dr Thani’s sentiments.

“It (next month’s event) is a great development for boxing fans in the region. More than 50 countries will send in around 260 boxers for the 10-day event” Bouzidi said. “Live coverage of this event will reach out to new audiences” Bouzidi added.

President of QBF Yusuf Ali Al Kazim said the final list of boxers will be made available in the ‘next two weeks’.

“It is the first event of its kind set to be held in the Middle East. We are still awaiting on the final list of boxers” Al Kazim said.

“Probably in two weeks we should get all the details. This is an event for the elite boxers” he added.

“We hope this event will boost the game’s image in the region besides giving the young boxers in our country and the Middle East a taste of top flight of boxing” Al Kazim said.

Al Kazim said Qatar boxers stood to gain a lot by featuring at the event.

“Our boxers are better than their counterparts in the region but not superior to the ones on the international stage. But during this event our boxers will become better” Al Kazim said when asked about the legacy of the event.

“We are developing boxing as we go along. We have won medals at the region level and in Arab events. Now we are looking at the World Championships” he added.

“As for the preparations are concerned we are 95 percent ready” Al Kazim said.

“We have launched our marketing plans since the schools have reopened. We are going to move to the ministries also and take our message to them” he said.

AIBA venue supervisor Pat Fiacco said: “We met heads of LOC committees. They have done a fantastic job.”

He added: “This is an important event on the AIBA calendar and an important championship for Qatar. This is going to be the probably the best ever world championships in the AIBA history.”

Fiacco said: “The LOC here has put in an incredible effort. You will see the best referees and technical staff managing the event.”THE PENINSULA