Qatar National Sport Day – The Amiri Resolution No. (80) of 2011 designated the second Tuesday of February of each year shall be a Sports Day for the State, when everyone is encouraged to participate in sporting activities with colleagues and family.
The first National Sport Day was held in 2012 and was designated for sporting endeavors by the citizens of Qatar.
The day’s main purpose is to promote sports and to educate the local population on ways to reduce health risks associated with an inactive lifestyle, such as coronary heart disease and diabetes.
Many government ministries and private sector companies organize hundreds of activities and sport day events for employees and the general public. Notably the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Qatar Olympic Committee (Team Qatar), Aspire Zone, and various other sporting organizations play a prominent role at a number of events across Qatar.
Activities range from football to basketball, tennis to taekwondo, cycling to swimming, with countless free sporting sessions and social competitions, available to all.
The day is also viewed as an opportunity to bring communities closer together through sport, based on the sporting principles of team building, inclusion and unity, participation, fitness and health.
Along with the extensive sporting events across the country, National Sport Day also focuses on Qatari culture with traditional Al Shawahef rowing championships, acting as a reminder of Qatar’s ancient sporting heritage and the role it has played in the country’s most recent developments.
