A major novelty of the second edition of Doha Goals, the “Sports Ministers’ Summit”, the first of its kind in Qatar, kept all its promises. Around fifteen members of government, most of them African or from the Middle East, pushed open the door on Monday, December 9, to isolate themselves from prying eyes in one of the lounges of the imposing Torch Hotel in Doha. A closed session from which, at the end of the day, emerged a major proposal: being able to use, in the least fortunate countries on earth, international aid to build sports equipment and develop the practice of sport.
The idea is new. Richard Attias, the instigator of the Doha Goals, explains the main points: “ The gap is widening, in terms of sports infrastructure, between the richest countries and developing nations. The latter are falling considerably behind, due to lack of financial means, to build equipment. We propose that they can now use part of international aid for these purposes."
Qatar encourages this new form of solidarity without restraint. Salah Bin Ghanem Bin Nasser Al Ali, the Qatari Minister of Youth and Sports, assured this at the end of the meeting, abandoning Arabic for the occasion to speak in English: “ We have understood in Qatar that the development of sport requires the construction of infrastructure. We are ready to show the way to countries that need it"
Among them, Senegal. Present in Doha, the Senegalese Minister of Sports, Mbagnick Ndiaye, told FrancsJeux: " I am fully behind this proposal. This active solidarity must become a necessity. Today we need concrete help to build sports facilities. In Senegal, we have established a 47 million euro data bank to improve our infrastructure..
The Senegalese minister makes no secret of it: his country is eyeing the organization of the African Football Cup of Nations. “ We are candidateshe says. And we still will be. But we need stadiums that meet FIFA standards.” A project which, without international aid, might never see the light of day.
