David Harding is International Editor for The Independent, based in London. Between 2015 and 2019, he was the AFP bureau chief in Doha. He has been a journalist for 20 years.

Ahmed Khellil Abbassi is the Executive Director of Competitions & Football Development with the Qatar Stars League. He has worked as the Sporting Director for Al Duhail SC (2011–14), the National Team Camps and Competitions Director for the QFA (2014–15), and the Director of National Teams for the QFA (2015–20), winning several awards and trophies, such as the AFC Asian Cup 2019 and the GCC Gulf Cup 2014. Alongside his professional career, Abbassi received a BA in Business Administration...

Monika Staab, born in Dietzenbach/Frankfurt, Germany in 1959, is a former German football player and manager. She has the UEFA coaching Pro-licence. After playing for German clubs such as SG Rosenhöhe Offenbach, Offenbach Kickers, and the SG Oberst Schiel, she played for clubs abroad such as Paris St. Germain and the Queens Park Rangers. Later, as coach and manager of the 1. FFC Frankfurt, she won four German championship titles, five Cup victories, and the first UEFA champions league title...

Danyel Reiche is Visiting Associate Professor at Georgetown University-Qatar. He is on leave from the American University of Beirut (AUB) where he is a tenured Associate Professor of Comparative Politics. He is coeditor of Sport, Politics, and Society in the Middle East (Hurst/Oxford University Press, 2019).