Preparatory Meeting Held for 4th Arab Women Sports Tournament

5 Dariya News

Sharjah , 31 Jan 2017

The first preparatory meeting for the fourth Arab Women Sports Tournament was held by the event’s organising committee in Sharjah recently, with the activity paving the way for the competition to take place in the emirate in February 2018. Held under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, wife of the Ruler of Sharjah, Chairperson of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs and head of Sharjah WomenSports Foundation, the tournament is expected to seewide participation from sports club from around the Arab world.Participating in the meeting, which took place at Radisson Blue Sharjah,were Sheikha Hayat Bint Abdulaziz Al Khalifa, head of women sports at the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees (UANOC) and chairperson of the follow up and supervision committee; Saud Bin Ali Al Abd Al Aziz general secretariat of the UANOC; Nada Askar Al Naqbi, Head of the Executive Committee, Manager of AWST, Director General of Sharjah Women Sports Foundation; Basel Yousif Al Shaeer, Council of UANOC; Khalid Al Hussein, Director of Sports Department at the General Authority for Youth and Sports Welfare and Mohamed Al Zayed, Manager of Arab International Relations for the Bahrain Olympic Committee.
During the meeting the UANOC members suggested a number of proposals, includingmodifying the basic regulation for the tournament. They also discussed the games that will be included in the fourth edition, with a horse jumping competition now added to theseven sportsthat comprised its third edition; basketball, volleyball, table tennis, fencing, archery, shooting and athletics.Nada Askar Al Naqbi confirmed that the fourth edition of the Arab Women Sports Tournament comes amid new developments, most notably the establishment of the Sharjah Women Sports Foundation, which followeda decision issued by His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah. Naqbi reiterated that the foundation will serve the sports sector at all levels, with women's sport in the UAE and Sharjah benefitting in particular. She highlighted the importance of creating a cadre of talented Emirati sports women by facilitating their access to regional and international competitions and encouraging them to participate in a variety of sports. She also extolled the benefits of establishing a modern eco-system for administration for women sports, according to best international practices.“We seek to carry out this great Arab Tournament the best way, which adds to the historyof Sharjah in organising the varioussignificant events.  Sharjah has truly become home to women’s sport in the Arab world, given that the participation in this Tournament has become the ultimate goal for many girls in numerous Arab countries,” Al Naqbi added.
Sheikha Hayat Bint Abdulaziz Al Khalifa expressed her confidence that the committee of the fourth Arab Women Sports Tournament will continue its success in its organisation of the competition, which she said has become established over its three previous editions as an event greatly anticipated by the region’s sports women.Saud Bin Ali Al Abd Al Aziz stressed that Arab Women Sports Tournament is holding its fourth edition of the tournament after threeprevious successful editions and that the committee should listen to and consider all suggestions for improvement, thereby ensuring the continuation of the success of providing for women's sports in the Arab world.Saud bin Ali also conveyed the greetings of His Royal Highness Prince Talal bin Badr bin Saud, President of the Arab Sports Council, Chairman of the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees to the tournament organising committee, whopraised their wonderful efforts. bin Ali also thanked His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah as well as his wife, Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, for the significant role she plays in supporting the women's sports movement in the UAE and the wider Arab world.

About the Sharjah Women Sports Foundation:

His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, issued an Emiri Decree to set up the Sharjah Women Sports Foundation in November 2016. It will have financial and administrative autonomy, legal authority and full capacity to conduct all necessary legal procedures to achieve its objectives. The foundation will operate under Her Highness SheikhaJawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, who will act as chairperson and be assisted by an advisory committee.