Security was extremely tight Sunday as all eight teams began arriving for the Gulf Cup, which runs until Dec. 4 in the southern port city of Aden. Some football federations early on had suggested the tournament might not happen because of safety concerns and worries that hotels and football facilities would not be ready.
Dozens of checkpoints were set up across Aden and security forces established three rings of security around the city. Armored vehicles could be seen positioned just outside the city.
Gamal Al-Yamani, a board member of the committee organizing the tournament in Aden, said there were upward of 30,000 troops protecting the teams and that a joint American-British security team checked all the stadiums to ensure they were safe. Each delegation has a security team and are escorted to and from stadiums and training sites by police vehicles, he said.
“The brotherly Arabian Gulf delegations were surprised with the level of security and safety in Aden,” Al-Yamani said. “Fear-mongering didn’t work.”
Teams seemed to be relieved with the extensive security and on Sunday were shifting their focus to preparing for training ahead of their first matches. Yemen opens the tournament against Saudi Arabia at the May 22 stadium followed by a clash between Qatar and Kuwait.
Fans were already streaming into Aden, with hundreds of cars crossing the border between Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Other cars flying flags from Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia could be seen making their way amid heavy traffic in Aden.
“Everything is excellent. Everything is fine,” said Rashid Al-Zaabi, a spokesman for the UAE Football Association in Aden, whose team has its first match against Iraq Tuesday. “There are no problems. Everything is under control.”
There also are almost daily clashes between the military and suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen, including an attack by suspected militants last month that killed a security chief of a southern Yemeni town and triggered a series of clashes between soldiers and militants that killed eight people, mostly government troops.
No group has threatened to attack the tournament or the teams. But sports teams and events have been among those terrorists recently have targeted in other countries.
Togo pulled out of the African Cup in January after its team bus was attacked by gunmen in Angola two days before the start of the tournament. A separatist group claimed responsibility for the attack that left an assistant coach and spokesman dead.
Last year, gunmen in Pakistan killed six policemen and a van driver when they attacked a bus carrying Sri Lankan cricketers. Several Sri Lankan cricketers were injured in the attack, which resulted in Pakistan being dropped as co-host of the 2011 World Cup, and barred from hosting any international cricket.