The preparations for FIVB Qatar Open, a FIVB World Tour event, which will take place from November 4 to 8, are in full swing at Al Gharafa Stadium.
It will be the first time that Doha will host a FIVB World Tour event in which 56 teams from all over the world will be seen in action on four courts.
FIVB Qatar Open, the first of the two tournaments for men this year, is one of eleven FIVB Open events on the 2014 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.
Hosts Qatar are planning to take part with four teams in the event. The last time Qatar fielded more than one team was during the Durban Beach Volleyball Open in South Africa in December 2013, when two teams competed for the title. Thamer Issa and Abdulaziz Khalouf represented the second Qatar team back then. The duo, who had finished third in the Arab Championship, is likely to represent the country once again.
Coordinator of the tournament Mohamed Salem al-Kuwari visited the Brazilian embassy in Doha and invited Acting Ambassador Vivian Rios Balbino to attend the tournament. He also discussed the evolution of beach volleyball in Qatar with the ambassador.
Al-Kuwari also met Ambassador of the Paraguay Angel Barkina and invited him to watch the competition.
The move to host the event in Qatar is a direct result of the directives of the new FIVB administration to expand the scope and reach of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.