The sport was mostly unknown in Qatar, until the establishment of the first edition of the Qatar Ice Hockey Championship, with the participation of four teams to include Qatari, Canadian and English Czech's and Finnish players organized by the Sports Affairs Department of the Qatar Olympic Committee. Qatar's national team participated at the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan. The country has two ice rinks (Gondolania Ice Arena and City Centre Mall) with a two division hockey league providing official competition. The six teams for 2009–10 were the RasGas, Sandvipers, Qatar Qanucks, European Fitness Club, Sundogs, and CNAQ Breakers.