On a recent trip to Qatar, IMMAF President Kerrith Brown and IMMAF Director Wissam Abi Nader met with the new president of the MMA Federation in Qatar and also the president of the Boxing Federation, Sheikh Fahad bin Khalid al-Thani.
During the meeting, they explored Qatar entering into MMA and how IMMAF can aid the development of the sport in the nation. The nation has been actively looking to get involved with sports and is keen to get involved in building the sport of MMA in Qatar.
While on the trip, Brown and Abi Nader attended the launch of the UFC GYM in Qatar with CEO Saeed Kosar before meeting with Deputy CEO of Al Mana Holding, Abdulrahman Hamad AI Mana, who is one of the partners for the UFC gyms and has an interest in working with federation and sport.
They concluded the trip to Qatar by visiting one of the largest sports academies in Qatar, Aspire Academy and were impressed with the facilities on offer. The pair met with the Head of Aspire Academy, Feras Btaddini, who has worked closely with other sports in Qatar and has been involved with various projects in the IOC and OCA. Btaddini is amongst the group of people that are looking to get on board with developing MMA in Qatar.
Speaking about the trip, IMMAF President Kerrith Brown commented.
It was a pleasure to meet with Sheikh Fahad bin Khalid al-Thani, Saeed Kosar, Abdulrahman Hamad AI Mana and Feras Btaddini in Qatar to discuss the future of MMA and Qatar. The meetings were very positive, and all could play a role in the development of the sport nationally. The facilities available are impressive, and the vision of the national federation is promising. There is a lot of potential to be explored in Qatar, and I look forward to seeing how the national federation progresses in the future while assisting them in any way we possibly can.”
