Gunning for glory: an interview with Dahlan Al Hamad

Dahlan Al Hamad, in his second innings as President of the Qatar Association of Athletics Federation (QAAF), is determined to make it more fruitful than his first outing.

Dahlan, a senior officer with the Qatari Armed Forces, was instrumental in Doha’s successful bid for the 2010 World Indoor Championships. But Qatar’s poor show at the ’08 Beijing Olympics led to him being replaced by Abdullah Ahmad Al Zaini.

Dahlan, who is also an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) vice-president, seems keen to make the most of his second stint. In a free-wheeling interview with Doha Stadium Plus, he opens up about a wide range of topics.

How do you feel having returned to the QAAF helm after a four-year gap?

It’s good to be back. The time out of the federation gave me enough opportunities to review my past work and see where I erred. The insights will help me re-evaluate and, if necessary, revamp and upgrade the system inside out.

What’s your top priority?

We’ve recently had some very promising athletes. We need a steady stream of children to keep the momentum going and that’s my top priority.

People shouldn’t seek instant results as they’re impossible to come by in athletics. We’re operating talent centres for sprint, middle and long distance races, and they’re working closely with schools. The relationship existed earlier, but we focused only on the gifted few.

Our aim now is to help develop a strong sports culture among students. That way, even if we don’t find the next Usain Bolt, we would be creating the conditions for it. This isn’t easy, but we’ve to start somewhere.

We’re also planning special training for physical education teachers at schools and also giving them advanced training kits.

How about the national team?

We’ve been reviewing the performance of our coaches. We’re selecting only the right trainers, who’ve made results, for our athletes. They should’ve trained medallists at either the Olympics or IAAF World Championships. Such coaches can help our athletes and teach them to cope with the pressures at that level.

Mutaz Essa Barshim and Ashraf Amjad Mohammed seem well accustomed to the pressure already…

Mutaz won Qatar’s first Olympic medal in 20 years (high jump bronze) in London while Ashraf set a new record en route to winning gold at the ’12 IAAF World Junior Championships in Barcelona, Spain. It isn’t everyday we unearth athletes of their calibre.

I won’t let administrative red tapes interfere with our athletes’ development. In the duo’s case, the coaches brought their annual plans to us. We discussed them in detail and then approved them. Now, it’s up to the respective coaches to ensure they live up to the promise. We’ll monitor their progress.

Ashraf set the new record with a 5kg hammer, but he’s now training with a 7kg equipment. His Russian coach Aleksey Malyukov feels he can qualify for the IAAF Worlds in Russia this year. We won’t put any pressure on him. His development shouldn’t be rushed.

Now that our younger generation has started to deliver, will it end Qatar’s policy of naturalising senior athletes?

Qatar has only a limited population to find talent from. But our sports scene has developed rapidly. We’ve now 27 national federations, each with its own talent identification and development programmes at the Under-10, youth, junior and senior levels. It’s impossible to cater to all of them, so we’re forced to look elsewhere for players.

As long as the IAAF rules permit us to bring talent from overseas, we’ll continue doing it. While we’re against human trafficking, people do have the right to choose where to live. If a child from such a family, who moved to Qatar in search of better living conditions, has talent, we’re within our rights to encourage him to compete. The family can then become Qatari residents.

We aren’t the first people to have naturalised athletes. The Europeans and Americans have been at it forever. As long as it’s controlled and legalised by the IAAF rules, I don’t see why anyone should’ve problems.

How do you evaluate the performance of Qatari clubs?

It’s an area of concern. We’re going for a huge overhaul of the system. We reviewed their past performances and it isn’t satisfactory. They need to pull up their socks urgently. At the same time, we understand more local competitions are the need of the hour. We’ll organise several new events in the new season.

The QAAF had taken over the organisation of festivals for children aged 10 and below from the clubs. But we realised we cater only to a small number of athletes — 40 or 50 — at any time. Different clubs hosting the programme simultaneously, involving children from their neighbourhood, increases the number exponentially. We’ve decided to give the duty back to the clubs, but we’ll monitor the progress.

We’re also in the process of evaluating club coaches. Those who’re found wanting will be asked to improve themselves. We’re planning several workshops as well.

The QAAF will be very busy over the next few months …

Yes, we’ll have three competitions at different levels in just a few weeks. The first will be the GCC Championship (March 30 to April 6), then IAAF Diamond League (May and Arab Championship (May 21 to 24). It’s a tough challenge to host three competitions at a stretch, but we’re capable of pulling it off.

In fact, the Arab Championship was supposed to be held in October, after the ’13 IAAF Worlds. But then, the athletes wouldn’t have any motivation to perform. By organising it in May, we’re giving Arab athletes a valuable chance to qualify for Russia. It should make things interesting.

Doha failed in its bid for the ’17 IAAF Worlds. Are you looking to bid for the ’19 edition?

We’re waiting for the Qatar Olympic Committee’s permission to bid for ’19. If it gives us the go-ahead, we’ll immediately start working on it.

For the ’17 race, we had a strong bid team in place. Unfortunately, we were competing against London and the very history of athletics itself.

The British capital is one of the happening places in the world of sports. To me, any other competitor would’ve been an easier foe. We didn’t stand much of a chance against the Londoners. But we fought bravely and took the loss in our stride.

The Doha leg of the IAAF Diamond League has traditionally clashed with the Jamaican Open trials, robbing people of a chance to see some top athletes. Is a solution near?

Hopefully, it wouldn’t be a problem this year as the American and Jamaican trials for the ’13 Worlds are set to be held in June. But bear in mind that this being a World Championships year, athletes will already have specific training plans. Many may not be enthusiastic in starting their season too early in Doha. One can’t say who’ll be coming.

Republished with permission from www.dohastadiumplusqatar.com