Doha, a place already well known by the players of the French team

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In a few hours, the players and staff of the French team will have taken up residence in the luxurious Al Messila hotel, in the center of Doha. If some Blues are more used to spending their holidays in Dubai, in the neighboring state of the United Arab Emirates, others do not arrive in unknown territory in Qatar, which is not a land of football. The emirate, which organizes and hosts this 2022 World Cup (November 20-December 18), has already been visited several times by a dozen players from the France team, as part of marketing or refurbishment operations. fitness.

Doha, headquarters of partner club marketing operations

Last May, Paris Saint-Germain returned to Qatar, after a three-year absence due to the Covid-19 pandemic. An express 48-hour round trip to Doha for PSG players, with a signing session and filming of commercials for Qatar Tourism Authority or Qatar Airways on the program. Kylian Mbappé and Presnel Kimpembe took the opportunity to visit two of the eight World Cup stadiums (Education City Stadium and Al Thumama Stadium).

Before this visit to Doha, this promotional tour of PSG in the emirate – called “Qatar Tour” – had taken place five times (2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019). Former PSG players, not all of whom traveled to Qatar this winter for this World Cup, have thus been able to discover Doha in the past: Alphonse Areola, Adrien Rabiot, Christopher Nkunku, Mike Maignan, Moussa Diaby or Lucas Digne. The latter even returned there with FC Barcelona in 2016.

Because Qatar has also established relations with other European clubs: Barça, for a period (2011-2017), but also Bayern Munich. Like PSG, the Bavarian club have been making regular winter tours here since 2011, while Qatar Airways has been its sponsor since 2018. Kingsley Coman, Benjamin Pavard, Lucas Hernandez and Dayot Upamecano have seen Doha in recent seasons.

Just like Karim Benzema, during a Real Madrid internship in Qatar in 2014, during which the winner of the Ballon d’Or 2022 faced PSG in a friendly match. For the past ten years, Doha has therefore established itself as a regular meeting place for clubs for these promotional tours or internships. The players then train in the Aspire Zone, near the Aspetar clinic, where several Blues have already gone for treatment.

The Aspetar Clinic, a reference in the world of sports medicine

At the end of September, Presnel Kimpembe, forced to withdraw on the first day of the Blues rally, spent ten days in Doha to treat his hamstring injury. PSG had entrusted him to the Aspetar clinic, with which the capital club has had a partnership since 2014. Aspetar has been, for more than ten years, one of the world references in the management of sports injuries. high level.

Certified by FIFA as one of the 49 medical centers of excellence in the world, the clinic benefits from very high-level infrastructure thanks to investments from the Qatari state. “Infrastructure is good. But the most important thing is first of all the strategy, and above all the skills“explains Hakim Chalabi, a former PSG doctor and executive director of the clinic he joined in 2007.

Since then, Aspetar has been able to attract many specialists of different nationalities to become a center of excellence on several subjects (pubalgia, cardiology, cartilage, back, etc.). “Excellence is achieved by sharing knowledge“, assures the doctor who has seen international PSG players in the France team go to Aspetar. The clinic also has partnerships with Tottenham, Côte d’Ivoire, the Algerian team and the National Institute of Sport. , expertise and performance (Insep)…

Ousmane Dembélé stayed there for several weeks between 2019 and 2020, on the advice of another 2018 world champion, Samuel Umtiti. “I am very satisfied with my stay here“, assured Ousmane Dembélé in January 2020 on the Aspetar site. “This is the must of what I have seen in the service of the sportsman“, assures Anthar Yahia, a former Algerian international who went to Aspetar in 2010 and 2015 for treatment. This service will be made available to the selections throughout the World Cup period.

Doha, missed meeting last March for the Blues

The players of the France team, who have never set foot in Doha, could have done so last March. The Blues had been invited to a mini-tournament organized by Qatar. “It’s not bad to play at least one game there before the World Cup.”, assured Noël Le Graët in November 2021. Didier Deschamps seemed to be in favor of it. But the project is stillborn, the FFF not finding its account.

This mini-tournament finally brought together Croatia, Bulgaria and Slovenia with Qatar. The French team will therefore have waited five more months before coming to Qatar. Some Blues will take a little time to adapt to the local climate, where temperatures are close to 30° C, while others have already made their mark in the capital of the emirate.


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