Jump flies to Doha for the AFC Asian Cup 2023 Final
In 2020 Jump was commissioned by Football Marketing Asia (FMA), now known as Asia Football Group (AFG) to create the complete broadcast toolkits for all of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Club and National team competitions. These toolkits included opening and closing sequences as well as all pre, post and in-match graphics.
The Asian Cup is the AFC’s premium national team competition. Jump was recently invited to Doha in Qatar for a tour of the broadcast infrastructure, OB trucks and compound and to watch both AFC Asian Cup 2023 Semi-Final games and the Final.
Richard Norley – Head Creative at Jump:
“Aaron and I were delighted to travel out to Doha for the AFC Asian Cup 2023. The temperature was a very pleasant 24 degrees for most of our time there – which was a bit different from East Finchley in February. It does reach 42 degrees in Doha in June / July so we’re glad the competition is held earlier in the year. Whenever the Norley family goes away we traditionally always take the rain with us. Bizarrely, that even continued in Doha. On the night of the final it rained and as we were due to fly out the next day there was a big thunderstorm.
We stayed at the Warwick Hotel which is just outside of the city centre to the west. It’s about 4 kilometres from the Doha Corniche, the famous 7 kilometre waterfront promenade that runs along Doha Bay.”
“We were given the impression before we arrived that Doha was a relatively small city, with each of the 9 Asian Cup Football Stadiums all very close to each other. However the reality is that with an area of 132km² there is quite a significant distance between each stadium and the various must-see areas of Doha itself.”
“Thankfully, Doha has a very reliable Metro system that is easy to navigate, clean, modern and very quick; with only 2 to 3 minutes between each train. It also has the most attentive and helpful staff I’ve ever encountered on a public transport system. TFL, there’s a lot you could learn from the Doha Metro. But the best, most convenient way to get around Doha is via Uber. It’s quick and relatively inexpensive, only about 20 Riyals (that’s less than £5) for a 15-20 minute journey. Response times are very fast. Once we ordered our Uber as we got into the lift on the 5th floor of our hotel and, without exaggeration, by the time we walked out into the hotel foyer the car was already waiting for us.”
Aaron Randell – Designer at Jump:
“For football fans like me and Richard it was a dream come true. We saw three games in the space of five days. The first semi-final at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium was a thrilling game between Jordan and Republic of Korea, with Jordan winning 2-0.”
“The next evening we saw Iran take on the host nation Qatar in the second semi-final at the Al Thumama Stadium. Qatar won this one 3-2.”
“An exciting final between Qatar and Jordan was set up for Saturday at 6pm local time at the Lusail Stadium. This is the same stadium that hosted the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 final between Argentina and France.”
“Qatar won the match 3-1 to lift the AFC Asian Cup 2023 and send everyone in the stadium, and the country as a whole, into joyous hysterics!”
“World Cup style security protocols meant getting into, and surprisingly, out of the stadiums at each of the games was heavily scrutinised and took quite a long time. After the second semi-final Richard and I weren’t allowed to exit the stadium without the relevant wrist-band and sticker. As we had visited the Broadcast Compound before the match we hadn’t been given one. Whoops. It looked like we were never going to be allowed to leave. Nadia from the AFC had to walk all the way around the stadium from where she was sitting to come and rescue us. The stadium is huge, so it was about a 20 minute walk. Thank you Nadia!”
The trip wasn’t just to watch football. Richard and Aaron met with the lovely Paul Haines who is our main client contact for all of the Club and National Team Multilateral graphics and Broadcast Toolkits.
In the afternoon, before the second Semi-Final, Paul showed Jump around the AFG’s broadcast compound and introduced us to the rest of his team at the venue. We saw how Jump’s graphics are ingested and used in the OB truck by the Graphics Operator, along with meeting the Match Director, Vision Mixer and EVS Operator.
The following day we met with more of the AFG team including those who are responsible for the distribution of our Unilateral graphics and programme elements across all of the AFC’s Media Partners and Broadcasters. We also met the team responsible for commercial partnerships within the AFC. The day finished off with Jump joining in on a branding workshop.
Richard – “Visiting Doha was a fantastic experience. It was really productive for us to see the international clients we work with on a weekly basis face to face. Neither Aaron or I had been to Doha before. It was a great opportunity to experience the different culture but also to see how football is perceived, watched and played outside of our European bubble. One great take-away we both left with was the friendly, almost family-nature of the fans at the stadium. There was no segregation between opposing fans and there was not a single incident of trouble. Everyone just got behind their team in a non-threatening and friendly way. That was true across all three of the games we watched and I think of the tournament as a whole.”
“If you ever get to visit Doha we have a couple of food tips. I would happily recommend you order the Azui Lahmen – which is meat, rice, nuts and peas stuffed into crusty dough rolls, served with cucumber yogurt. It was delicious! Aaron’s favourite was the Oven Clay Pie – which was lamb steaks with vine leaves stuffed with rice, cooked as a pie with a pastry top.”
Aaron – “When people ask me how Doha was, the only word I can think of is INCREDIBLE. I never thought I would be there as a VIP at an international semi-final sitting 10 metres away from one of my childhood heroes, Sir David Beckham and getting to go pitchside at the other semi-final.”
“The stadiums were one of the highlights for me, such beautiful architecture and because they were purposely built as football stadiums the atmosphere inside was electric. After seeing the Jordan fans passionately cheer for their team in the semi-final and win, I was rooting for them in the final. Sadly they lost – but to have the home nation Qatari fans and the Jordan fans in the remarkable Lusail stadium was a fantastic end to the tournament and our trip.”
“Our trip to the museum of Islamic Art was phenomenal. Because of where it is situated on the water there are outstanding views all around it. Inside there was way too much to finish a whole tour in the time we had. Next time.
Lastly, it was truly a pleasure to meet our wonderful clients in person. And also the extremely friendly and helpful residents of Doha. Thank you everyone.”
