In his address to the trainees, Major General Dahlan Al Hamad, president of the Qatar and Asian athletics federations and vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, said this course was only the beginning of technical and regulatory work in athletics, and that there was a great opportunity available to Qatari officials as the first step in building a corps of athletics officials. Al Hamad stressed that the federation was looking to the future, and that this course was the start of further courses to come so that Qatari officials would be present for every challenge in Qatari athletics, both in the organisation of championships and in taking part in the sport’s challenges. He noted that the 2019 World Athletics Championships was the event at which Qatari officials had to be present to help run it. He also spoke of the great technical value of the official and the human quality an official in the sport must possess, stressing that an official is an agent of fairness for the athletes and that his decisions shape an athlete’s path in the sport. Al Hamad urged the officials to keep developing and to master the rules in order to be fully prepared to add technical value to the sport, wishing everyone success in their journey towards the most important sporting event in athletics – the 2019 World Championships – which would be run with Qatari officials, reinforcing Qatar’s successes in world athletics.
