Our world champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah emphasized that the representation of Qatar in international forums is more important now than running for the presidency of the Qatar Automobile and Motorcycle Federation. He said: “In the event of running for the presidency of the federation, I will move away from the wheel, and I must be completely ready for that responsibility, which now I am not. I represent my country in all international forums.”
Al-Attiyah spoke in an interview on Instagram about his career in the world of cars and shooting and he said that obtaining the bronze medal in the London Olympics 2012 was a strong start for him in shooting and the Olympics, although I achieved Asian and international medals. This medal came after previous attempts. He added “I am proud that I dedicated to the His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, this medal, which I won thanks to the great support of the state and the prayers of all the people of Qatar. He further indicated that the Shooting Federation did not fail to support him too.
About cars, Al-Attiyah said: “I achieved the title of the Dakar Rally 3 times in 2011, 2015 and 2019. Winning in Dakar 2011 came in  a very suitable time, especially since I was in 2010 a strong competitor to the Spanish Carlos Sainz. I can never forget the call I received from His Highness, the prince father. Tears came to my eyes when he said «Allah bless you. you are the best representative of Qatar». I dedicated to him the Dakar Shield after I arrived to Doha, and I am proud of what I have achieved, especially that I won the Middle East Championship also 15 times, which is a record.”
Al-Attiyah said: “We always consider ourselves soldiers of this country. We always seek to prove to the world that Qatar, though a country small in size, is larger than many countries of the world, especially that the organizers were dazzled by the performance it presented in 2011. The victory was limited to the Europeans, and thank Allah, I won the title in Dakar two more times in 2015 and 2019 and we were close to winning the 2020 title by 99%, but we were not so successful.”
Al-Attiyah also affirmed that he loves camels, the sport of parents and grandparents, and said: I participated in the name of “Dakar” and I was lucky to succeed and win a dagger and a car.
On his failure to qualify for the Olympics in shooting, he said: “I did not fail in shooting and its different in qualifying, especially since the qualification system is difficult, since one must achieve a championship in order to qualify and the opportunity is still before us in the championships in India and France.”