By Mark Baber
August 5 – The Gulf Cup of Nations (also known controversially as the ‘Arabian Gulf Cup’) has been postponed for a year, officially due to the host Kuwait needing time to complete their infrastructural preparations, but perhaps also due to the fact that five of the usual participants have been bombing one of the others since March of this year.
Theoretically a biannual tournament, but historically riven by political and organisational difficulties, the Gulf Cup of Nations is not officially recognised by FIFA and like the “Arabian Gulf League” – the top tier of the UAE domestic league – has run into accusations of racism from Iran over its name.
Eight nations – Iraq, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Yemen – had been due to contest the tournament which will be held in Kuwait after Iraq withdrew as host in February citing financial problems. The tournament had been scheduled for December 22, 2015 to January 4, 2016.
On Monday it was announced that Kuwait needed more time to complete their preparations with Shaikh Talal Al Fahd, President of the Kuwaiti Football Federation, saying: “The problem is stadiums need maintenance and the lighting in stadiums is weak. It will need four months to maintain. The decision to delay [the tournament] was met with approval and consensus.”
Saleh al Farsi, the vice-president of the Oman Football Association (OFA), told local media that the cup “has been postponed to December 2016. The GCC football committee agreed on a request made by Kuwait Football Association chairman Sheikh Talal al Sabah to postpone the event.”
According to Farsi, “Kuwait’s football officials explained that they were keen to improve the standard of the existing stadiums and would need time to renovate them. All the members agreed and decided to postpone the tournament.”
One has to wonder if by December 2016, the region will have reached some kind of stability, the current bombing campaign, which has seen jets from Gulf Cup of Nations participants Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain bombing Yemen with Oman attempting to mediate the conflict, will be over and football allowed to develop free from geo-political disputes.
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