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<\/p>\nThousands of fans packed into Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday night for the Amir Cup final, in a match that for many felt like more than just football.<\/p>\n
The final, which saw Al Gharafa SC beat Al Sadd SC 4-1 to retain the Amir Cup title, came after weeks of regional tension that had kept many residents indoors and away from public gatherings.<\/p>\n
But Saturday\u2019s final marked one of the clearest signs yet of fans returning to stadiums in large numbers as football once again took centre stage in Qatar.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Fans fill Khalifa International Stadium during the Amir Cup Final in Doha, Qatar. – Local Organising Committee <\/p>\n
A crowd of 37,823 spectators attended the final, creating a lively atmosphere as supporters waved flags, sang throughout the match and stayed behind long after the final whistle.<\/p>\n
\u2018Maybe the whole Qatar is here\u2019<\/p>\n
For many in attendance, the occasion represented a return to normal life after a stressful period.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great feeling,\u201d one Indian expat attending her first football match in Qatar told Euronews.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I came to Qatar, about three days later, everything happened. The missiles were bombing everywhere and people were nowhere to be seen.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut now when I\u2019m standing here, I can say maybe the whole Qatar is here. It feels delightful. It feels amazing. I can see that Qatar is living again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another fan attending the final with his two children said bringing his family to the stadium helped restore a sense of normality.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the stress days, we feel more comfortable. Everything is perfect actually,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlhamdulillah, life became normal again. Everything is safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
His Highness The Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani attended the final and later crowned Al Gharafa champions following their victory.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Euronews during the event, Qatar Football Association head of media Ali Al Salat said organisers wanted the occasion to feel like a celebration for supporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really good to have everything back in the same order,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday we have the prestigious competition, which is the Amir Cup. So it\u2019s a time to celebrate football with fans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Al Salat said fans had already been returning during league matches and earlier rounds of the Amir Cup, describing Saturday\u2019s final as \u201cthe cherry on the cake\u201d of the football season.<\/p>\n
The final also marked the 50th anniversary of Khalifa International Stadium, one of Qatar\u2019s oldest sporting venues.<\/p>\n
Many fans stayed behind celebrating long after Al Gharafa lifted the Amir Cup trophy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thousands of fans packed into Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday night for the Amir Cup final, in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":661772,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[319673,319674,319672,64,63,65369,596,6234,319671,16260,319675,85],"class_list":["post-661771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-al-gharafa","tag-al-sadd","tag-amir-cup","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-doha","tag-football","tag-football-match","tag-khalifa-international-stadium","tag-qatar","tag-qatar-football-association","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}