DOHA: The Professional Training Diploma (PRO), organized by the Qatar Football Association (QFA) in cooperation with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), concluded at the headquarters of the Football Development Department of QFA.

The closing ceremony was attended by Fahd Thani, Director of Football Development of QFA, Saeed Al Misnad, Technical Advisor, QFA, and Erich Rutemoller, the acclaimed German International Lecturer.

The conference was also attended by Gary Phillips, the English International Lecturer, Radwan Al Hibani and Wissam Shamil of AFC.

Fahad Thani concluded the closing ceremony with a closing speech.

“On behalf of His Excellency Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Thani, the QFA President, I wish every participant great success in their future endeavours,” Thani said.

“I would like to thank the AFC for its approval of this course despite the fact that many of the coaches of the QFA have already joined the AFC system,” he said.

“QFA continues to build a solid ground, prepare the coaches and help then qualify for bigger teams and clubs,” he added.

“We always lay great emphasis on the importance of the role of any coach in the development of a team or a club,” Thani said.

Rutemoller thanked QFA for conducting the course. He also thanked Fahad was encouraging the young participants.

The ceremony ended with Thani handing over the certificates.

The first stage of course saw the participants getting introduced to the latest training methods for psychological and physical preparation supported by European specifications.

The second phase focused on the defensive aspects and the latest ways of modifying them. The third phase centered around tackling offensive situations.

The course also included a presentation of the philosophy of each football coach and how to develop sport in each country according to the best methods reached by modern sports science.

The fourth stage dealt with modern methods of playing and dealing with the player and the professional teams in all aspects.

The tournament witnessed the participation of the most prominent trainers in the QNB Stars League namely Djamel Belmadi, the former coach of Al Duhail, Sami Trabelsi, coach of Al Sailiya, head Philip Birol, coach of Muaither, and former coach of Iraq Hakim Shaker.