TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA IBQ on Tuesday announced its sponsorship of Oryx football club, the sports team of the French Lycée Bonaparte School in Qatar.

The sponsorship is one of a series of endeavours IBQ undertakes annually to showcase its support to sports and other activities that reach out to various segments of its community, the bank said in a statement.

Officials from the bank and the school attended the inauguration ceremony of the partnership.

IBQ will provide the Oryx team with its official football uniforms and branding for the football court.

Philip King, head of retail banking at IBQ, said: “We’re very happy to be the partner of choice for Lycée Bonaparte which is one of the leading academic institutions in the country and we firmly believe that their efforts to build a successful sporting platform for students are highly commendable.

“At IBQ, we place very high importance on our role as an exemplar corporate citizen and therefore we continuously seek ways to develop or sponsor activities, programmes and initiatives to help our community. This sponsorship is a perfect fit for our CSR mission.” Hafid Adnani, provost of the Lycée Bonaparte, said: “I am very pleased to have IBQ as our partner in sports through the sponsorship of our football club, the Doha Oryx Football Club which was established in 2010 and has brought back several wins since inception.

“We believe that a partnership through sports, particularly when it is seen to take place at the heart of an academic centre of excellence that is expanding exponentially, is a great platform for our students to thrive through extra-curricular physical activities.” Coached by football star Juhninio and comprising 34 players, the Doha Oryx Football Club was established by Stephane Morello (professeur des écoles et entraîneur professional) and Sebastien Pinede (ancien joueur et professeur des écoles) and the school’s socio-educational board.

In the 2010-2011 football season, the team battled it out against leading champions of Al Gharrafah, Al Rayyan, Qatar Sports Club and Al Sailiyah. This year, the Doha Oryx Football Club has seen its team doubling in number with new members playing for the 2005/2004 category.