Flashback 2022 World Cup: Two cruise ships dock at Doha port, welcome FIFA World Cup fans on board

 Two cruise ships dock at Doha port, welcome FIFA World Cup fans on board

·         MSC World Europa cruise ship naming held in Qatar

·         Ready to host World Cup fans, second ship of the MSC group MSC Poesia arrives, third one MSC Opera likely to check into Doha in the coming days

·         Floating hotels are one of several facilities provided by the State of Qatar for fans of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, offering multiple booking and accommodation options throughout the tournament, including apartments, villas, fan villages and usual hotels.

·         A stunning live entertainment performances and a spectacular fireworks display against the stunning Doha skyline marked cruise ship MSC World Europa naming ceremony at the revamped Doha Port on Sunday

·         22-deck Europa has 2,626 cabins, designed with the highest standards of security and safety, is a modern floating hotel and can accommodate 6,700 guests

·         MSC Poesia houses 1,265 cabins, three swimming pools, a spa and wellness center, cinema, poolside, tennis and basketball courts, in addition to four dining options, 15 coffee shops and event venues.

 

Armstrong Vaz

Doha, Qatar: Two cruise ships belonging to MSC Cruises, the world’s third largest cruise brand, which will host the World Cup fans in Qatar have arrived in Qatar.

The second floating hotel, MSC Poesia, docked in Doha Port on Monday morning to join MSC World Europa, which arrived in Doha Thursday, to offer a luxurious hospitality experience to fans of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 during the 29-day period from November 20 to December 18.

The cruise ship MSC Poesia is a modern 4-star floating hotel offers luxurious services to World Cup fans with a variety of room options ranging from traditional cabins overlooking the sea to rooms with balconies and luxury suites, in addition to multiple dining possibilities and programs and entertainment for all ages.

MSC Poesia houses 1,265 cabins, three swimming pools, a spa and wellness center, cinema, poolside, tennis and basketball courts, in addition to four dining options, 15 coffee shops and event venues.

Floating hotels are one of several facilities provided by the State of Qatar for fans of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, offering multiple booking and accommodation options throughout the tournament, including apartments, villas, fan villages and usual hotels.

All together three cruise ships will host fans during the football showpiece event with MSC Opera likely to check into Doha in the coming days.

On Sunday an outstanding array of stunning live entertainment performances and a spectacular fireworks display against the stunning Doha skyline marked cruise ship MSC World Europa naming ceremony at the revamped Doha Port.

The event featured a traditional maritime ceremony at Doha Port with Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, sister of Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani  The Emir of Qatar, cutting the ribbon and officially announcing the name of the cruise ship at a glittering ceremony which was attended by Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive and Qatar Tourism Chairman Akbar Al Baker, Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy Secretary-General HE Hassan Al Thawadi, MSC Cruises executive chairman Pierfrancesco Vago, Master of the Vessel Captain Marco Massa, and several guests.

The ship’s naming ceremony turned out to be a glamorous and star-studded event took place at Doha’s brand new Grand Cruise Terminal, a state-of-the-art 24,000 square metres facility that will handle up to 28,000 passengers a day and has the capacity to host two mega-cruise ships a day.

The cruise ships will offer a unique hospitality experience to FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 fans.

The 22-deck ship with 2,626 cabins, designed with the highest standards of security and safety, is a modern floating hotel and can accommodate 6,700 guests and the FIFA World Cup fans will be the ship’s first paying customers and will benefit from one of the most technologically advanced cruise liners in its class.

MSC World Europa is the most innovative and environmentally advanced cruise ship in the MSC Cruises fleet. On top of ground-breaking advances in reduction of emissions and energy efficiency, the LNG-powered ship paves the way toward the uptake of carbon-neutral synthetic and other alternative fuels as soon as they are available at scale.

MSC World Europa is an ultramodern urban metropolis at sea offering a veritable world of experiences while setting a new standard for the cruise industry.

Hosted by comedian, producer and entrepreneur Hamad Al Amari, event guests were treated to performances by local artists, a cutting-edge video-mapping projection onto the ship's hull, and a huge drone show. International singer-songwriter Matteo Bocelli, presented his solo work for the first time ever in Doha, provided the grand finale performance. His new album is due in early 2023 via Capitol Records.

Argentinian cycling trio return home triumphant, set to plant 10,500 trees in Cordoba

 Argentinian cycling trio return home triumphant, set to plant 10,500 trees in Cordoba

By Armstrong vaz

Doha, Qatar: On Sunday at the Lusail Stadium an author, teacher and content producer from Argentina had the joy of their life’s. One of the three goals of their 10,500 kilometers cycling mission from South Africa to Qatar was achieved with La Albiceleste winning the FIFA World Cup final defeating France 4-2 on penalties.

For Lucas Ledezma, Leandro Blanco Pighi, and Silvio Gatti, two goals remain to be fulfilled which the Argentinian trio had set out on the cycling journey of a lifetime from Cape Town to Doha in May this year to attend the football showpiece event, the first one to be held in the Middle East and the Arab World.

With Lionel Messi and Scaloneta holding aloft the glittering trophy, one goal became a reality in Qatar with Argentina winning the prize football trophy for the third time.

“WORLD CHAMPIONS Thank you for joining us in this dream. 10,000 km, 13 countries, 6 months, 1 World Cup,” wrote Leandro on his Instagram page.

For the trio who were in Qatar, a few days before the World Cup, two goals remained to be fulfilled once they are back in Argentina, making a documentary of the trip and planting 10,500 trees in Cordoba.

“Córdoba’s native forest has suffered from deforestation for decades, and currently only 3 percent of its total area remains. We want to raise awareness for this. One of our main goals during this cycling tour through Africa and the Middle East is to work with our beautiful province of Cordoba. We want to change every mile by planting a tree,” they wrote on their Instagram page.

The trio spent 177 days on the road covering 10,000km and 15 countries between Cape Town and Doha with Matias Vercesi joining them in Egypt but again were reduced to a trio with travel agent Silvio heading to Australia, after watching a few matches due to work commitments.

The trio faced a few hiccups on the journey but on the hit a greater blockade in terms of getting match tickets for the final. But with a few hours left for the kickoff the tickets came their way thanks to the ‘angel on the road’.

“All these days and even on the final we were very anxious to find the final match day tickets, it was the most difficult part of the whole tournament, we had to put into practice everything learned during these months, from organizing tasks to call on spiritual help,” said Matias about the challenges they faced in getting the tickets for the final.

“We arrived at the stadium without the tickets and met an "angel of the road" who guided us to find that entrance, I only have words of gratitude, I am privileged to be living this historic and global moment, thanks Leo Messi for making me believe, thank you all for being part of this dream,” he added.

The idea for the epic ride came after Argentina booked their spot at Qatar 2022 and is the latest in a series of long-distance cycling trips the quartet has made to major sporting events. In 2016, the four men travelled to the Rio Olympics and took on a similar trek to the last FIFA World Cup in Russia.

“We want to get to Messi. We are Lucas, Silvio and Lea and we are giving it all for the Scaloneta. We travel by bike to Qatar, crossing Africa and the Middle East. We started in South Africa and we want to see Messi caress the trophy.

“The Odyssey has 3 goals: Get to Qatar to look for the trophy next to the Scaloneta, record a documentary, plant a tree for every KM traveled and let the whole world know about the story,” the group had written on their Instagram page during the trip.

“We started this journey in May and every day was an incredible adventure,” said Lucas, a PE teacher who took time out from the classroom to focus on the journey.

 “People throughout Africa and the Middle East opened their doors to us. They helped us to learn about the culture, share food and even invited us to stay in their homes. We have had an incredible welcome from everybody – including right here in Qatar.”

Travel writer Leandro said he was keen to dispel myths and stereotypes about people in the Middle East and Arab world.

“People in the Middle East are portrayed in a certain way in the media, but in reality, they are all very welcoming,” said 31-year-old Pighi, a documentary filmmaker, author and travel writer who already has two books against his name including one about the remarkable hike from Argentina to Alaska.

“Everyone has been so generous, regardless of their means – they were all adamant to share food and water with us. I’m glad I got the chance to witness this first-hand.”

“We were here to inspire people – to tell everyone that you can do the impossible, we are proud of this journey,” said Matias, a content creator from Cordoba.

For travel agent Silvio, the energy the riders have felt since arriving in Qatar has been inspiring.

“I am very excited to be in Qatar. Our journey was long and tiring, but the welcoming atmosphere we have been surrounded by has given us so much energy and made the trip very worthwhile.”

How the teams qualified for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup

 

How the teams qualified for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup

Media Release

The biggest ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in history will include more teams and more matches than ever before.

For the first time, 20 nations will take to the stage and battle for world glory in the United States and West Indies across 55 matches and four weeks of thrilling action.

You may be familiar with the teams but here is a refresher on how they got here.

The hosts

West Indies and USA earned automatic entry as the host nations, with the latter set to play in the tournament for the first time.

Two-time winners West Indies will host the competition for the second time after staging the 2010 showpiece which saw England beat Australia in the final.

Just as in 2010, the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, will host this year’s final.

Top eight from 2022

The top eight teams from the last ICC Men’s T20 World Cup all ensured automatic qualification to the tournament’s ninth edition.

In Australia, England recorded their second triumph as Ben Stokes steered his side to victory with the bat after Player of the Tournament Sam Curran helped restrict runners-up Pakistan to 137 in the final.

Beaten semi-finalists India and New Zealand also secured entry for 2024. India will be looking to build on their 50-over triumph last year while the Black Caps will be hoping to add their name to the trophy for the first time.

The sides which finished third and fourth in the Super 12 groups also achieved qualification. Those four teams are former winners Australia and Sri Lanka, two-time semi-finalists South Africa, and Netherlands, who achieved their best T20 World Cup finish last time round.

Team rankings

Afghanistan and Bangladesh are included due to their status as the next two highest teams in the T20I rankings.

The Tigers came close to a couple of shock victories last time out and will be hoping to build on that, while the likes of Rashid Khan and Qais Ahmad will be tapping into their experiences in the US franchise tournament, Major League Cricket, to aid their team’s cause.

The qualifiers

The remaining eight spots were determined by regional qualifiers with Ireland and Scotland coming through the European section.

Scotland hosted the regional finals in July 2023 and powered through the group stages unbeaten, joined by Ireland thanks in no small part to a crucial seven run victory over Italy.

The East Asia-Pacific qualifiers took place at the same time and Papua New Guinea also recorded a perfect run to reach their second T20 World Cup.

Canada emerged from the Americas qualifier, sneaking past Bermuda on net run rate to reach the main event for the first time.

Nepal and Oman qualified in Asia, defeating UAE and Bahrain respectively in the last four before sharing a thrilling final which Oman claimed after a Super Over.

The final country to secure their place in the 20-team line-up was Uganda. The Cricket Cranes usurped regional powerhouse Zimbabwe for their first-ever T20I win over a full-member team en route to their first T20 World Cup.

Namibia were the other side to qualify from the Africa Qualifier, having previously played in the 2021 and 2022 editions.