The ‘We Love Qatar’ stand at the recent sports festival held in Melbourne, Australia, got pleasantly ‘mobbed’ when Hollywood superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger and his entourage passed by the stand with Australian business and sports tycoon Michael Ibrahim.
The ‘visit’ drew all television cameras and reporters to the Aqeeq Holding stand. It was crazy, said Ibrahim, the creator of the global phenomena #WEAREALLQATAR. He said that as soon as they got to the stand to draw the winning tickets for two to Qatar, they were swamped by the media and fans of the Hollywood superstar. Schwarzenegger, who arrived in Australia to promote the Arnold Sports Festival, received quite a welcome from politicians, actors, athletes, media and the dizzying array of screaming fans who began to yell, ‘We love Arni – we Love Qatar’.
The former governor of California left fans overwhelmed as he shook hands and took selfies before drawing the two winning travel tickets to Qatar courteousy of Aqeeq Holdings. The ‘Terminator’ then moved to sign the ‘We Love Qatar’ wall, football and T-shirt emblazoned with a profile portrait of the Emir of Qatar, an image that has become a widely used as a symbol of Qatari defiance to the diplomatic crisis in the Gulf.
Ibrahim, who was on a mission to promote business, sports and tourism in Qatar, was also in awe of ‘Arni’.
To his credit the mega star started shaking hands, signing autographs and mingling with the people. They all wanted to get a piece of their favourite idol and they got it. He’s really a people’s person and everybody loves him.’
Hussein Ibrahim, the youngster holding the raffle bowl for Arnold was surprised when the 71-year-old former Mr Olympia acknowledged him and his siblings by asking them how they were doing and shaking their hands. The youngster said his heart beat so fast, that he was actually shaking while holding the tickets.
In a media interview after the ticket draw, Ibrahim thanked the former Hollywood actor for the joy he continues to spread around the world. Ibrahim, who met with Arnold on the sidelines of the event said he and the actor had a lengthy discussion about a future partnership.
Arnold’s presence at our stand was phenomenal, it really did wonders. We had over 60,000 people from all over the sports world visit the festival. Our stand was bombarded with business and tourism inquires. I also had a few companies asking about taking their sports events to Qatar. I am hoping to capitalise on these inquiries when I next visit (Qatar) and meet with the Qatar Tourism Authority and other government agencies.’
The Arnold Sports Festival is Australia’s largest fitness expo and multi-sport festival, with over 40 different sporting events. Over 10,000 professional and amateur competitors and over 60,000 visitors attended the three day event, jam-packed with activities for sports lovers and fitness fanatics.