The Qatar Camel Mzayen Club is organizing the Mzayen World Cup, under the slogan "Desert Dhows," which will be held on the sidelines of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, with the aim of spreading the popular sports heritage, promoting sports tourism, and taking pride in the national identity, in cooperation with the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC). The tournament, starts on Thursday and will continue until December 2. The event aims to enhance the status of Arabian camels at the local, regional and international levels, support the sport of the ancestors, encourage Qatari and Gulf owners to continue breeding camels, preserve their rare breeds, take care of their beauty marks, provide an ideal environment for the camels, and develop their production, because of its unique features.
The Mzayen World Cup is held under the umbrella of the Ministry of Sports and Youth, in partnership with the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, the Ministry of Municipality, and the "Hayatuna" event.
The tournament will be an exceptional sporting event with nine-day competitions taking place during the morning period at the Labseer Square in the Al Shahaniya area, amid unprecedented participation of the strongest and best types of local and Gulf camels and the winner of the 2022 Qatar Camel Festival "Jazilat Al Atta".The competitions are divided into three categories: Al Maghateer, Al Majahim, and Al Asayel, with three days for each category from the age of Al Haqiq to Al Gel.
The event also aims to promote sports tourism, enhance pride in the national identity, and highlight the status of camels among the people of the Arabian Peninsula, as well as spread the popular sports heritage globally. It seeks to introduce World Cup fans to local sports thanks to the accompanying events that were prepared very carefully for this purpose, such as riding and camels shows, a milking competition, an exhibition of camel collectibles, and other events.
The participating camels will compete for prizes exceeding QR10m, and for 45 gold, silver, and bronze cups, with 15 cups for each type, and 45 gold, silver, and bronze medals, with 15 medals for each one. The participation is limited to the winning camels of the first ten places in the runs of the Qatar Camel Festival 2022, in addition to one of the winning camels in three "Al Marsas" runs and a winning camel of the festival. For the Al Haqiq category, the first place will receive a gold cup, a gold medal, and a cash prize of QR200,000. The second place will receive a silver cup and medal, and a cash prize of QR150,000. The third place will receive a bronze cup and medal, and a cash prize of QR100,000, while places from fourth to tenth will receive cash prizes, and so on for all runs.
The championship will be subject to accurate arbitration, to ensure the integrity of the competition, after all, participating camels undergo an advanced technical examination to detect cosmetic enhancers and a DNA test. The championship is one of the strongest tournaments locally and regionally as it will witness the participation of the best Qatari and Gulf breeds.
Camel Mzayen Club also launched the "Gene bank" project to build a national archive for camels and preserve their breeds, in addition to installing new chips for camels participating in all festivals and tournaments organized by the club. The project aims to contribute to the preservation of strains and the stability of their genetic fingerprint, and to prevent tampering with chips, in addition to contributing to the verification of the camels identity during the buying and selling, which will be done through the withdrawal of blood samples, during the process of registration and alignment of the fingerprint, and then the installation of new chips.
The project in its first phase targets 700 camels qualified for the Mzayen World Cup, provided that the dates of drawing samples of camels participating in other festivals will be announced later. Furthermore, Qatar Camel Mzayen Club has prepared seven various events for the visitors to the Mzayen World Cup. The activities will be open daily to all visitors, from local audiences and World Cup fans. The events include the Desert Dhows exhibition, camel parade show, mahaleb competition, the "beit shaar" and the display of camel varieties, in addition to the offers of productive families.
The events aim to introduce the visitors to authentic folk customs and traditions, inform them of their glorious heritage, and provide them with the opportunity to enjoy one of the most important popular sports for the people of the Arabian Peninsula. Also, the fans will see the old holdings of Qataris of supplies and tools for camels and their various products in addition to knowing about camels training. The visitors will witness the generosity of Arab hospitality in the hospitality majlis "beit shaar", where the guests of the tournament will be received with Arabic coffee and the popular dishes in the house, which represent an essential part of the ancestors lives, and reflects the Bedouin lifestyle in the desert and its close connection with camels and falcons and their accessories.
An exhibition of camel collections will be held, on the sidelines of the tournament, under the name "Desert Dhows" exhibition, in cooperation with four national and personal museums: Qatar Museums represented by the National Museum of Qatar, Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al-Thani Museum, and Sheikh Hassan bin Mohammed Al-Thani Museum, and the Mansour Al Ruwaili Museum.
