JEDDAH, 12 June 2005 — For the ninth successive year, the GCC Polo Cup organized by the Jeddah-based BMG Foundation is set to raise money for charity. This major event on the calendar of the polo world sets an invitation team captained by Prince Charles against a GCC team led by prominent Saudi businessman Mohammed Al-Hamrani.
This year’s full teams have yet to be announced but so far Al-Hamrani, who has led the team in previous competitions, Rashed Al-Habtour (UAE), Ali Al-Bawadrdy (UAE) and Amr Zaidan (KSA) are short-listed to play on the GCC team. The UK team, led by Prince Charles, will also include his elder son, Prince William.
The event at the Guards Club will take place on Windsor Great Lawn on June 25. Traditionally the event raises money for designated charities with much of it donated to, and re-distributed, by the Prince’s Trust, a UK-based charity headed by Prince Charles.
“We donate most of the pool of funds to them and we support individual charities as well,” said Basil Ghalayini, head of BMG Financial Advisors.
“The Disabled Children’s Association of Saudi Arabia, for example, as well as charities in Lebanon and Pakistan and the Council for Arab-British Understanding.”
The BMG Foundation supports a wide range of charities in communities where the company operates. Next year, the foundation will launch a support program for able students who want to continue their education at leading universities.
Currently it funds a program, through its Art Alive Exhibitions, to support talented Arab artists who are living abroad but unknown in the Arab world. The foundation supports a range of charities, regardless of race, religion or nationality. Ghalayini believes that organizing a charitable event around a polo game is a productive way of attracting the interest of high profile supporters with charitable intent.
“Polo is an interesting game with roots in the ancient Middle East. Nowadays, we can use it to raise money for charity,” said Ghalayini.
He said there were very few events in the Arab world where charity was the sole function but such fund-raising events were common in the west where they are both popular and respected. A bonus, he thought, was the positive public relations for the Kingdom that comes from association with the event and its charitable aims.
The special focus of this year’s event is the School of Traditional Arts which will be one of the recipients of funds. The guest of honor on the day will be Bahaddin Hariri, the son of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri who was assassinated in February this year.
“Rafik Hariri is not as well known in the UK as in France and elsewhere,” said Ghalayini. “The event is an opportunity to reflect on his contributions to charity and to mark the respect that many in the Middle East have for him as a man from humble beginnings who rose to become a high figure on the world stage.”
As part of the program, Yamen Sami Al-Hajar, who received Al-Hariri’s Award for High Achievement at Najed Schools, will give a speech highlighting the milestones in Hariri’s life as a businessman, statesman and philanthropist.
