Doha GOALS—Gathering of All Leaders In Sport—is an initiative designed as a "call to action" for the role that sport plays as a driver for social and economic change. The initiative, from the Aspire Zone Foundation and Richard Attias & Associates, will build a community of global influencers from all industries who believe that sport is a crucial vehicle for social and economic development. Doha Goals Forum is already a well known manifestation, where many projects can be evoked. For example, during the third edition, in November 2014, Hassan Al Thawadi repeated that Qatar "can organize the World Cup in summer". The Executive Director of Doha GOALS is H. E. Sheikh Faisal bin Mubarak Al Thani. The initiative is produced by Richard Attias & Associates.

Launch at London Olympic Games 2012

The launch of Doha GOALS at Bayt Qatar during the London 2012 games was attended by President

Ali Bongo Ondimba Ali Bongo Ondimba (born Alain Bernard Bongo; 9 February 1959),"Bongo Ali", ''Gabon: Les hommes de pouvoir'', number 4Africa Intelligence 5 March 2002 . sometimes known as Ali Bongo, is a Gabonese politician who has been the third president of Ga ...

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...

and Olympic athletes including

Carl Lewis Frederick Carlton Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. His career spanned from 1979 to 1996 ...

Tegla Loroupe Tegla Chepkite Loroupe (born 9 December 1979) is a Kenyan long-distance track and road runner. She is also a global spokeswoman for peace, women's rights and education. Loroupe holds the world records for 25 and 30 kilometers and previously ...

, Marie-José Pérec and

Ian Thorpe Ian James Thorpe, (born 13 October 1982) is an Australian retired swimmer who specialised in freestyle, but also competed in backstroke and the individual medley. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the most won by any Australian along wit ...

Richard Attias Richard Attias (born 19 November 1959) is a Moroccan events producer, founder and former chairman of PublicisLive and currently the executive chairman of Richard Attias and Associates. He is also the founder of The New York Forum and the co-foun ...

, the former producer of the World Economic Forum in Davos, and the Clinton Global Initiative, will produce Doha GOALS in 2012.

Pre-Forum

The Doha GOALS Forum will be based on initiatives that were discussed during a pre-forum session on January 8, 2012, hosted by the Aspire Zone Foundation at the Torch Hotel in Doha, Qatar. H. E. Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Secretary General of Qatar Olympic Committee, and Hassan Al-Thawadi, Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for Qatar 2022, led the session alongside Hilal Jeham Al Kuwari, President of Aspire Zone Foundation. In attendance were also global figures such as Martina Navratilova and

Arianna Huffington Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington (née Ariadnē-Anna Stasinopoúlou, el, Αριάδνη-Άννα Στασινοπούλου ; born July 15, 1950) is a Greek-American author, syndicated columnist and businesswoman. She is a co-founder of '' Th ...

. At the session, H. E. Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani delivered an address outlining the vision of Doha GOALS. He said that the forum would pioneer "social change" through values of "sportsmanship and the ethics of sport".

Leadership

Doha GOALS was created under the patronage of H. E. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani became the new Emir of the State of Qatar on June 26, 1995, continuing the rule of the Al-Thani family that began nearly two centuries ago. H. E. Sheikh Faisal bin Mubarak Al Thani is the executive director of Doha Goals. He graduated with a degree in political science from American University,

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and was the president of Al Arabi Sports Club 2006–2008. H. E. Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani is the Secretary General of the

Qatar Olympic Committee Qatar Olympic Committee ( ar, اللجنة الأولمبية القطرية, IOC code: QAT) is the National Olympic Committee representing Qatar. History The QOC was formed in 1979 and was granted full recognition by the International Olympic ...

and the vice-president of the International Fencing Federation. He graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering from the

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's ...

and a master's degree in Sports Management at

University of Lyon The University of Lyon (french: Université de Lyon), located in Lyon and Saint-Étienne, France, is a center for higher education and research comprising 11 members and 24 associated institutions. The three main universities in this center are: C ...

. He is the president of the Qatar Fencing Federation and served as Director-General of 17th Arabian Gulf Cup.

is a global influencer and events producer, founder and former chairman of PublicisLive and presently the executive chairman of Richard Attias and Associates, and the producer of Doha Goals. He has organized gatherings of global leaders in the last 20 years including the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

in Davos; the

Clinton Global Initiative The Clinton Foundation (founded in 2001 as the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and renamed in 2013 as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation) is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was es ...

; the Middle East Peace Summit in

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

; the Dalian Economic Summit in China; and the signature of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in Marrakech, and most recently the

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

(APEC) Summit in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

in November 2011.

Global Watch

In June 2014 in Doha, Doha GOALS founded and launched Global Watch: Say No To Racism-Discrimination In Sport, a new global initiative to tackle discrimination in sport with South African activist and politician

Tokyo Sexwale Mosima Gabriel "Tokyo" Sexwale (; born 5 March 1953) is a South African businessman, politician, anti-apartheid activist, and former political prisoner. Sexwale was imprisoned on Robben Island for his anti-apartheid activities, alongside figur ...

and the

Nelson Mandela Foundation Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

. Commenting on this partnership, Sheikh Faisal bin Mubarak al Thani, Executive Director of the Doha GOALS and co-chair of Global Watch, said: “Doha GOALS forum is proud to be a founding partner of Global Watch, we believe that sport can play a critical role in contributing to the building of a better world , and look forward to working with the Nelson Mandela foundation and the Sexwale foundation on advancing this mission.” Global Watch will undertake a global summit in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

, South Africa, from the 9th to the 11th of September 2014, and the drafting of national codes of conduct governing the conduct and behaviour of sporting persons in respect of anti-racism-discrimination towards

non-racialism Non-racialism, aracialism or antiracialism is a South African ideology rejecting racism and racialism while affirming liberal democratic ideals. History Non-racialism became the official state policy of South Africa after April 1994, and it is en ...

on playing fields. This new initiative has been welcomed by FIFA, the International Olympic Committee and the UN Human Rights Commission, as well as high-profile leaders such as African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, former US vice-president Al Gore, and former South African presidents Thabo Mbeki and FW de Klerk.http://www.southafrica.info/mandela/anti-racism-020614.htm#.U-twkIB_tV5#ixzz3AHVkVX8z

Production

Aspire Zone Foundation

Established in 2003, Aspire Zone Foundation is an international sports project which includes Aspire academy, Aspetar and Aspire Logistics. All these corporate entities were unified by Emiri decree in 2008. Located in Doha, Aspire Zone Foundation was voted the world's leading Sports Tourism Development Project for the World Travel Awards 2011.

Richard Attias and Associates

Richard Attias & Associates is a strategic communications firm that provides private consultancy and idea initiatives. Some of the work that RAA has created or produced in the last year includes: New York Forum and New York Forum AFRICA; APEC CEO Summit in Hawaii; The New York Times Schools for Tomorrow, Energy for Tomorrow and Opportunities for Tomorrow conferences; Global Food Security Forum in Morocco; Global Competitiveness Forum in Saudi Arabia; Qatar–U.S. Business Forum in New York; Conference of Nobel Laureates; and African Securities Exchange Association Summit.

References

External links

Doha GOALS Official Website

Richard Attias and Associates Official Website

Aspire Zone Official Website
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