QF and Paris Saint-Germain Academy stage Alumni Cup tournament

Soccer skills were on show at Education City as teams comprised of former and current Qatar Foundation students and members of Qatar’s community battled it out for the Alumni Cup, a tournament held in partnership with the academy of one of Europe’s biggest football clubs.

The hard-fought competition was run by coaches from the Paris Saint-Germain Academy, and in addition to the glory of being crowned Alumni Cup champions, each player from the winning team received the official jersey of the French football giants, who are the reigning holders of France’s Ligue 1 title

Seven teams went head-to-head on the pitches of the Indoor Court at Multaqa (Education City Student Center) in a tournament that was open to Qatar Foundation alumni aged 16 and above.

The Paris Saint-Germain Academy’s association with Qatar Foundation began in January 2019 when a delegation from the French club, including first-team players plus the club’s coach and business managers, visited Doha for their traditional winter tour in Qatar.

During this tour, the Paris Saint-Germain Academy in Doha – the first of its kind in the Middle East and the Arab region – was inaugurated, and is run throughout the year within Qatar Foundation’s facilities. This collaboration has grown, with PSG Academy participating in many different events as its scope continues to expand year on year.

“The tournament was a great success in attracting players from within the QF community and beyond, being run by expert coaches from the Paris Saint-Germain Academy and seeing some excellent competition between the participating teams,” said Omer Abdulkader of QF Community Development.

The Alumni Cup was organized to complement the QF Alumni Fair, which took place at Education City over three days and provided QF alumni entrepreneurs with a platform to showcase their products and services in a fun carnival-like setting. Members of the QF community attended the fair to support alumni businesses, network, attend performances by alumni, and participate in games and fun activities, with the Alumni Cup rounding off proceedings in the form of a friendly sporting competition.