China to give Qatar two giant pandas for World Cup

China announced on Monday that will give Qatar two giant panda bears on the occasion of the World Cup (November 20-December 18) organized by this Gulf emirate.

“It is a gift offered by the 1.4 billion Chineses for the Qatar World Cup, which will surely become a new symbol of China-Qatar friendship,” Chinese Ambassador to Qatar Zhou Jian said at a reception in Doha, the country’s capital.

The bears, baptized ‘Suhail’ and ‘Soraya’, They will arrive in Qatar in October, just before the start of the tournament in which the 32 countries qualified for the World Cup will face each other.

Suhail is called one of the brightest stars observed from the Gulf region, while Soraya is the Arabic name for the Pleiades star cluster.

Chinathe most populous country in the world, It has not qualified for the World Cup, but several companies in the country participate in the construction of megaprojects for the event.

Another pair of giant pandas were ceded to France by China in January 2012. Received in style, they were installed in the park of Beauval.