HH Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad attends 36th meeting of Council Heads of Olympic Committees of GCC

Doha, His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, First Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Chairman of the General Sports Authority, and President of the Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC), led the BOC delegation at the 36th meeting of the Council of the Heads of Olympic Committees of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The meeting was chaired by Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, the President of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) and Chairman of the current session of the Council. The meeting addressed various agenda items. The first item focused on joint Gulf sports efforts, emphasising the need for olympic committees to organise specialised seminars and workshops in sports and to prepare a 2025 calendar for those events that shall be submitted to the General Secretariat by November 2024. The meeting also discussed key olympic committee events to be hosted in member states in 2024, requesting committees to submit their 2025 plans by November. The council also decided to form a c ommittee with experienced members from member states for planning and coordination. The meeting discussed opportunities for international cooperation on training courses and the exchange of expertise. The Council also adopted regulations to govern sports courses across the GCC countries. The council reviewed the final report of the first GCC Youth Sports Games hosted by the United Arab Emirates. The report highlighted the efforts made by the UAE Olympic Committee, which was commended by the Council. The challenges and recommendations from the report shall be assessed by the coordination and follow-up committee. The meeting decided to cancel the first GCC Futsal and Martial Arts Games in Saudi Arabia due to the busy sports calendar, at the request of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee. The cancellation is due to the GCC Youth Games and the Asian Futsal and Martial Arts Games rescheduling from 2023 to 2024. This decision aims to avoid affecting the participation in the GCC Futsal and Martial Arts Gam es. The Planning and Follow-up Committee was tasked with preparing a timeline for combined GCC sports tournaments from 2028 to 2031. Additionally, the General Secretariat and Kuwait, the chair of the next session, will coordinate to determine the date of the next meeting. Source: Bahrain News Agency