Thanks to the high patronage of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of the country, and under the guidance of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs, His Excellency Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani the Qatar Air Sports Committee’s story is one of taking up the challenge of rapidly forming national teams of ambitious Qatari youth, to specialize in air sports.
The committee’s mission presented many challenges in light of the demands of the sport. Each student skydiver had to pass tests, obtain practical experience, and develop the required skills to be awarded a Master Skydiving license. The requirements for this license is that the jumper must record at least 500 jumps, and over 3 hours of accumulated free fall time in a logbook, with each achievement being signed off by a qualified instructor.
Since the committee’s establishment and official announcement in 2010 and its subsequent transfer to the Joint Special Forces Command in 2019, the Qatar Air Sports Committee has worked to organize and manage the affairs of the air sports which are operated in the State of Qatar, under the umbrella of the World Air Sports Federation (Fédération de Aéronautique Internationale / FAI).
The committee has become the only official governing body in the state of Qatar responsible for the supervision and oversight of air sport activities and training programs in accordance with the rules and recommendations set forth by the World Air Sports Federation.
The journey to develop the teams under the auspices of the United States Parachute Association began in 2008 when 120 carefully selected Qatari jumpers underwent arduous training in DeLand, Florida. The essence of which was dedication, duty and faith in God and country.
This trip laid the foundation for the birth of the first Qatari skydiving team which would go on the achieve regional, continental, and international championships which would blaze a trail of success to inspire the youth of this country.
In addition to the international achievements, the committee today can be proud of the skills reached by the parachuting team and paramotor pilots who perform the world’s most spectacular parachute demonstrations on the country’s National Day, delighting the masses.
The Qatar Sports Committee consists of administrative and technical crews, skydivers, and paramotor pilots numbering 116 members of the Joint Special Forces.
The committee consists of 4 main teams:
A short video timeline of the history of parachuting and how it became a sport.