JEDDAH, 6 March 2008 — In about three weeks the list of elected and appointed board members of the 27 sport federations under the umbrella of the General Presidency of Youth Welfare will be finalized.
The first Saudi Sports Federations elections were held in a long process that began in September last year. The board members in each federation were voted upon by 800 sport clubs representatives and a preliminary list was issued on Feb. 28 at the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Olympic Complex.
According to Prince Nawaf ibn Faisal, Youth Welfare deputy president, yesterday was the deadline for anyone who would like to appeal against a federation official to the appeals committee. On March 30 the final list will be announced.
The prince said all federation board members met the qualifications and no one was either an active player or referee of the sport they belong to. The prince also encouraged all the federations to activate their online websites and keep it updated to make their accessibility easier for the media.
Around nine new presidents were appointed and three committees became federations for a total of 27 Saudi sport federations.
The new presidents are: Ibrahim Al-Qannas (Saudi Karate Federation), Ahmed ibn Mufreh (Saudi Judo and Taekwondo Federation), Sulaiman Al-Sudairi (Saudi Handball Federation), Ahmed Al-Humaidan (Saudi Sports for all), Hashim Hariri (Saudi Physical Education Federation), Tariq Al-Tamimi (Saudi Squash Federation), Bader Al-Juwaeid (Saudi Boxing and Wrestling Federation), Abdulrahman Al-Angari (Saudi Tennis Federation) and Salih Al-Qunbaz (Saudi Sports Medicine federation).
Hassan Abu Eish, in addition, became president of the Saudi Snooker and Billiards Federation, one of the newly-formed federations along with the Saudi Golf Federation headed by president Khaled Abunayyan and Saudi Cars and Motorcycles Federation with Mishal Al-Sudairi as president.
The Saudi Sports Media Federation president is a matter to be decided by Youth Welfare President Prince Sultan ibn Fahd and the Minister of Information. The presidents of the Saudi Gymnastics Federation and the Saudi Marine Sports Federation also remain unknown.
Those who retained their posts as presidents were as follows: Prince Sultan ibn Fahd (Saudi Football Federation) and (Saudi Federation for Special Needs), Prince Nawaf ibn Faisal (Saudi Equestrian Federation), Prince Abdulrahman Al-Faisal (Saudi Homing Pigeon Federation), Prince Nawaf ibn Mohammed (Saudi Athletics Federation for Amateurs), Prince Talal ibn Bader (Saudi Basketball Federation), Prince Abdulaziz ibn Fahd (Saudi Arabian Swimming Federation), Mohammed Mufti (Saudi Volleyball Federation), Mohammed Al-Husaini (Saudi Table Tennis Federation), Bandar Al-Salih (Saudi Fencing Federation), Saleh Al-Sawwat (Saudi Weightlifting and Bodybuilding Federation), Yassir Abu Azmah (Saudi Cycling Federation), and Ibrahim Al-Juraifani (Saudi Bowling Federation).
Half of the federations’ board members were picked by the Youth Welfare and the other half via the votes from all the Saudi clubs. Each club voted for its most qualified member to be among the board members in the federation. Members were chosen for 14 federations. The football federation had the most board seats at eight while the other federations had four or five.
Winning federation board seats in football were Nassir Huwaidi, Ahmed Al-Khaes, Hamad Al-Shammari, Mohammed Al-Sarrah, Tariq Kayyal, Ibrahim Al-Rabdi, Ali Al-Ali and Muslih Al Muslim; in cycling were Abdullah Al-Mazeed, Mishaal Al-Shlash, saad Al-Ghalib and Rajab Walaan; in gymnastics were Nassir Al-Subai, Humaidan Al-Humaida, Diraan Al-Diraan and Ahmed Masaw; in swimming were Fahad Al-Ammar, Abdullah Al-Johar, Ahmed Al-Milhim and Nassir Al-Bassam; in tennis were Abdullah Al-Otaibi, Bassam Al-Azzam, Abdullah Al-Dajani and Ahmed Al-Oalola; in volleyball were Abdulaziz Al-Qurnas, Abdullah Al-Mubarak, Mohammed Al-Shareif, Jamal Aseeri, and Abdulaziz Al-Omar; in boxing were Khalid Al-Qahtani, Salih Al-Seif, Sultan Al-Zaidi and Jamal Al-Khalidi; in handball were Turki Al-Khilawi, Mubarak Al-Mibereik, Mohammed Al-Manea, Ahmed Basfar and Adullah Al-Olayan; in athletics were Hadi Souan,Ahmed Al-Fadil, Habeeb Al-Rabaan, Khalid ibn Noah and Ahmed Al-Ghamdi; in judo were Saad Al-Tamimi, Fahad Al-Salman, Hussain Al-Qahtani and Mamdouh Nimr; in squash were Abdullah Abu Riqqa, Abdullah Al-Muwallad, Samir Al-Khateeb and Yousif Al-Inizi; in karate were Abdullah Al-Qannas, Ahmed Al-Malki, ali Al-Ghamdi and Abdullah Hamdi in table tennis were Khalid ibn Migrin, Sulaiman Al-Judai, Nabeel Al-Miqahwi, and Abdulrhan Al-Rashid and in basketball were Faiz Al-Ahmdi, Mishabib Al-Aseeri, Sadiq Gadi, Habeeb Abdulsamad and Khaleel Abulrazzag.
