Qatar Stars League aligns with club coaches for Football development in Qatar

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Updated: September 19, 2019
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As you might be aware of, the Qatar Stars League (which was known as the Q-League formerly), is the highest professional league in the domain of Qatari football, and the very first season which was played for the QSL dates way back to 1963. However, the first official season took place later, in the year of 1972. Currently, 12 teams participate in the QSL, and the current champion is the club of Al Sadd SC. The Qatar Stars League is organised under the Asian Football Confederation. The national governing and organisational body which directly overlooks the functioning of both the Qatar Stars League and the Second Division League, which come right below the QSL in terms of domestic ranking, is the Qatar Football Association.

On the other hand, the Qatari Second Division League (the current champion of which is the Al Wakrah club) is the second most important tier of Qatar’s football league competition. In this league, a total number of eighteen teams take part every year, and the top teams are automatically promoted to the Qatar Stars League- which is all the more reason behind the significance of this particular alignment, as it would benefit the overall football scenario of Qatar on a whole. Some of the most influential coaches who train teams in these league, and are therefore involved in the collaboration include famous names such as Bartolome ‘Tintin’ Marquez Lopez (the manager of Al Wakrah sports club), Jose ‘Pepe’ Murcia Gonzalez (the manager of the Al Shahaniya sports club), Mohammed Sahel (the manager of the Muaither sports club), Darko Novic (the head coach of the Al Shamal sports club), and Dragan Tadic (the manager of the Al Mesaimeer sports club).

Also Read: Qatar Stars League 2019-20 Schedule

Tintin Marquez has joined the Al Wakrah club quite recently, in the month of June, 2019. He is a retired Spanish footballer who was well known for his skills as an attacking midfielder during his days. This 57 year old Spanish manager cum footballer has previous coaching experiences in different renowned football clubs of Spain, during which, he was also led his team to several awards such as the Copa Catalunya award (in 1997). Another Spanish coach to have joined the QSL is Jose ‘Pepe’ Gonzalez, who looks over the club of Al Shahaniya. This 54 year old manager used to be a footballer during his youth, and used to play as a forward. Before joining Al Shahaniya in 2017, Gonzalez has managed seventeen different football clubs, including Atletico Madrid in 2016. On the other hand, retired Croatian footballer Dragan Tadic has joined the club of Al Shamal recently as well, after a long stint at several Croatian clubs such as NK Rijeka, NK Istra, HNK Segesta, and NK Novalja. Before turning to the Second Division League at Qatar, Tadic also had several other successful managerial and coaching stints in European countries such as Belgium.

Just recently, a meeting was held for co-ordination by the Qatar Stars League (also known as the QSL) and the QNB Stars League, and the coaches of the Second Division League. This meeting was held in the Al Bidda Tower, which also houses the headquarters of the Qatar Stars League. The main policy and agenda of the meeting was to focus on a continuous co-ordination, collaboration, and consultation between the two concerned parties. This meeting was attended by several important personalities in this field, including Ahmed Khellil Abbassi (executive director of competitions and football development for the QSL), Miguel Heitor (acting director of football development at QSL), Abdullah Al Balooshi (sole representative of the Qatar Football Association Referees’ Committee), Ahmed Al Adsani (director of the competitions department at QSL), and Ali Hamoud Al Nuaimi (head of competitions at the Qatar Football Association, or QFA). All of these delegates focused on the importance of the alignment of the league with the coaches of the Second Division League, and even emphasizes on the advantages of forming such an important collaboration.

One of the most important points that were discussed during the meeting was regarding the overall development of football, and some key technical observations which were made by the renowned coaches. To quote Abbassi about this meeting, “We met with the coaches to get their views on how to contribute towards the development of league championship, professionalism, and football in general, based on their technical expertise. We have coaches with high technical levels. Benefiting from their wide experience through direct communication is very important as they’re an essential part of the football system.” Therefore, it is quite clear that both the QFA and the QSL, along with the Second Division League, is dedicated towards improving as well as developing the discipline of football in Qatar through more opportunities and better coaching and guidance, especially through the national sporting competitions and football leagues.