Hani Ballan: “There’s a great turnout and the goal is to motivate children to adopt a healthy lifestyle”

The Negdar (We Can) initiative, launched by the Qatar Stars League (QSL) in co-operation and partnership with Generation Amazing and Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya) and with the support of Ministry of Public Health, continues with training sessions for participating children according to the specified plan and programme.

The training, which took place on Tuesday evening (March 11) at Qatar University Stadium No.1, saw the participation of a number of football referees. Mr. Hani Taleb Ballan, CEO of QSL and Chairman of Referees Committee of Qatar Football Association, and representatives of QSL and Generation Amazing, attended the fourth week of 15-week initiative.

Children received ball training under the supervision of specialized trainers. Following the training, a match was played with the participation of a number of elite and first-class referees who were training at Qatar University’s stadiums. They were keen to participate in the initiative and encourage the children to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

Mr. Hani said, “We’re keen to support the Negdar initiative, which aims to inspire and motivate children to adopt healthier and more active lifestyles using football as a motivating factor, and to contribute towards reducing the risk of diseases associated with obesity. The initiative promotes a culture of sports and its role in adopting a healthy lifestyle. We’ve witnessed a great turnout and thank all our partners in the initiative. We believe that Negdar can change the lifestyle and attitude of this age group, contributing to build a stronger, healthier and more active generation.”

Regarding the referees’ participation in the initiative, he said, “We seek to harness the power and influence of football and connect participants through this initiative with their favourite stars to encourage and support them. Refereeing is an important part of football and the presence of referees is essential in such wonderful initiatives.”