The Supreme Organising Committee of the Arab Women Sports Tournament (AWST 2020), has set February 2, 2020,as the launch date of the fifth edition of the sporting event, which will be held in Sharjah under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, wife of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, Chairperson of Sharjah Women’sSports (SWS). A big number of sports clubs in the region have already signed up to participate in the prestigious event.A tournament manifesto has been released by the committee, which defines the roles and objectives of all administrative committees, including the Supreme Organising Committee, the Executive Committee and this upcoming edition’s administration. It also highlights the roles of the follow-up and supervision, sportswomen eligibility, doping control, disciplinary and appellate committees, games’technical committees, judges and referees’ committees, as well as outlining the roles of the General Secretariat for the union of key committees of the tournament.The manifesto contains comprehensive details of the eligibility criteria that players and athletes will need to meet to qualify for the tournaments nine competitions:basketball, volleyball, table tennis, archery, fencing, equestrian jumping, karate, shooting and athletics. The document also lays the roles, obligations and required competencies of the entities involved, andsets out theworkflow protocol of national sports authorities, the Federation of Committees and the Arab Sports Federations who will be involved in the tournament.
AWST 2020 has approved special prizes for participating clubs, including a ‘Club Sports Excellence’ trophy for the club that earns maximum medals, a ‘Sports Excellence’ trophy for the club competing in maximum AWST disciplines, and a ‘Fair Play Committee Union’ trophy, awarded to the club with the lowest number of violations on administrative or technical levels.HE Nada Askar Al Naqbi, Deputy Head of AWST’s Supreme Organising Committee, Head of AWST’s Executive Committee and Director General of SWS, noted that AWST has grown to become an international competition platform,offershigh-caliber Emirati sportswomen to compete with their Arabcounterparts, and together, they present a true image of the region’s sporting spirit to the world. “We aresteadily closing in on the launch of the fifth edition of the region’s leading sports tournament designed exclusively for sportswomen representing the region. AWST reaffirmsSharjah’s role in nurturing and advancing women’s sports in the Arab world, in line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, and under the directives of HerHighness Sheikha Jawaher Al Qasimi. With each edition, our aim is to developAWST as a prime destination for professional athletes to compete and achieve top honours.This will strengthen the global image of women’s sports and highlight its role in developing the Arab world,” said Al Naqbi.The first edition of AWST was held in 2012 under the directive of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Wife of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, Chairperson of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs and Chairperson of SWS.The pan-Arab tournament is held biennially with the aim of furthering women’s sports in the Arab region.SWS is currently preparing for its fifth edition, which will take place in February 2020. More than 65women sports clubs from more than 15 Arab countries have competed on the AWST platform since the tournament’s inception.