The organising committee of the AFC Asian Cup 2023 unveiled the official mascots of the tournament with 42 days to go until the opening fixture at the Lusail Stadium on January 12 next year.
India will participate in consecutive editions of the Asian Cup for the first time, with Australia, Uzbekistan and Syria its opponents in the group stage.
The mascots, a family of five desert rodents, called jerboas – named Saboog, Tmbki, Freha, Zkriti and Traeneh – will be the faces of the premier football tournament in Asia. This will also be the first time the Asian Cup will have a repetition of the mascots in multiple events.
The five mascots were also the mascots when Qatar hosted the tournament 12 years ago. The mascot launch follows the reveal of the official slogan, Hayya Asia, in October.
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Who are the five mascots of the AFC Asian Cup 2023?
Zkriti and Traeneh are the parents in the family, Zkriti is the green-coloured father while Traeneh is the purple-coloured mother. They are named after Zikrit in Qatar’s west and Tranaa from Qatar’s north.
Saboog, the blue-coloured son of the family whose name is derived from the commonly used term in Qatar to refer to desert rodents.
Freha, the family’s eldest daughter, is named after the Freha area in the north of Qatar.
Tmbki, the yellow-coloured younger son, is named after the Timbic region in Qatar’s east.
Who designed the mascots of the AFC Asian Cup 2023?
The official mascots are the brainchild of Qatari artist Ahmed Al Maadheed, who wanted to attribute different characteristics to each mascot, akin to the different roles players play during a football match.
At the same time, he wanted to create a set of characters resembling a traditional Qatar household that also pays tribute to all four corners of the country.
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