Tuesday, January 3, 2023 – 2:17 PM
Basra, January 3rd, WAM/ The Iraqi city of Basra continues its preparations for the launch of the Arabian Gulf Football Championship “Gulf 25”, scheduled for January 6-19, with the participation of 8 teams.
This is the first time in the history of the Arab Gulf Cup tournaments that the tournament is held in a city that is not the capital of the host country, bearing in mind that Iraq previously hosted it in 1979 in the capital, Baghdad, and the Iraqi team won its title.
Governmental efforts are concerted in Iraq, and in the city of Basra in particular, to make this great Gulf football event a success.
The Gulf Cup Federation had previously approved the two international stadiums in Basra, known as the “palm trunk”, whose design was inspired by the trunk of the palm tree for which the city of Basra is famous, which opened in 2013 (capacity of 60,000 spectators) and the opening ceremony of the tournament is held on it, and the port stadium, which was officially opened. In December 2022, (30,000 spectators) to hold the Gulf 25 matches.
These two stadiums are located within the vicinity of the Sports City in Basra, which also includes an advanced medical center, a group of modern hotels for housing teams, a training ground, and commercial and entertainment centers. The cost of implementing the sports city amounted to nearly one billion dollars.
In terms of reassuring the readiness of all sports facilities, Adnan Darjal, President of the Iraqi Football Association and Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the Gulf 25, inspected yesterday evening, Monday, the hotels designated for housing the delegations that will reside in the city of Basra, as well as the media tent, the Olympic Port Stadium and the video referee technology system (VAR). which will apply to the tournament.
Riyad Hadi, a member of the media office of the Iraqi Football Association, also announced that the media center is one of the priorities of the work of the organizing committee for the tournament, given that the media is the interface of the tournament.
He explained that 3 conference halls have been prepared, where the main center will be in Manawi Pasha Hotel, the second in Al-Mina Stadium, and the last in the Sports City Stadium in Basra.
The Organizing Committee also made it clear that the opening of the 25th Gulf Cup will be distinct from all previous editions of the Gulf Cup tournaments, and will be comparable to major international tournaments, especially after it was announced that the artists Kazem El Saher and Rahma Riyad will revive the opening ceremony of the tournament next Friday evening.
Reda Abdel Nour / Walid Farouk