Qatar's football league chief hopes a close alliance with the national team can help the country improve its international performance following a disappointing Asian Cup this year. Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup. "It's very important for us to become a consistent football force in Asia, which we're really striving to be," Qatar Stars League chief executive Hani Taleb Ballan told Reuters. "Until now we haven't achieved that, so it's normal to see us sometimes lose. We as a league should be a strong tool to support the national team." Ballan said Qatar's aim was to be among Asia's top four from its current 13th position. He hopes the league's innovations can support that ambition, with all 11 starters in Qatar's final Asian Cup group match playing for domestic teams. Six of those were foreign-born. The league claims to be the only domestic competition to provide free Prozone performance analysis to clubs, while club licences require them to have at least four youth teams, a reserve team and highly-trained coaches. "We're trying to improve the professionalism by supporting clubs technically," said Ballan. "Coaching is quite independent, but we can control certification of coaching."
