There are about 146 Filipino organisations in Qatar,[12] ranging from the Philippine Basketball League Qatar to the Qatar Pinoy Riders.[13][14] In March 2008, Hamad bin Khalifa, the emir of Qatar, allowed five Christian denominations to open churches.[15] A Roman Catholic Church, with a Filipino priest and a predominantly Filipino congregation was among those that opened.[15] In October 2008, ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation sponsored a Filipino cultural exposition in Doha that experienced an extremely high turnout of 13,000.[16]