As a majority Shiite country, Iraq has backed Shiite-led protests against Bahrain’s Sunni rulers earlier this year after uprisings against autocratic rulers erupted across the Middle East.
The general secretary of Bahrain’s Olympic Committee, Sheik Ahmed bin Hamad Al Khalifa told The Associated Press that the decision to move the tournament to Bahrain was made by the Gulf Cooperation Council, a group of six Gulf states.
Sheik Ahmed did not give the reason for the decision for the venues’ swap.
“When the decision came to us, we said we are ready,” Sheik Ahmed said. “It will be the fourth Gulf tournament for Bahrain so for us it has become a regular exercise.”
The 2013 Gulf Cup was originally awarded to Basra, Iraq’s second largest city, but Bahrain’s state-run media said Basra’s stadium and hotel construction were given a poor review by the GCC football committee.
Iraqi sports officials were angered and disappointed by the decision.
“The decision to give the Gulf Cup to Bahrain instead of Basra was unfair and unjust,” said Munis Abdullah, a senior member of the Iraqi Olympic Committee in Baghdad. He said the Gulf officials, who toured Basra’s Gulf Cup sites last week, had “some concerns about the pace of work,” but Iraq assured them the venues will be completed in time for the tournament.
“There was some politics involved in this decision because of the stance of the Iraqi government toward the uprising in Bahrain,” Abdullah said. “Gulf states deemed this negative.”
In addition to Bahrain, the GCC comprised Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar, which last year became the first Arab country to be awarded the World Cup as the 2022 host nation.
Yemen hosted eight teams during the last edition of the Gulf Cup in 2010 amid tight security due to raging conflicts across the country, located at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula.
Bahrain was the host of the inaugural Gulf tournament in 1970. Since then, the Gulf kingdom has raised its profile by becoming the first Arab country to host a Formula One Grand Prix in 2006, although this year’s season-opening race was canceled due to the unrest.
Violence has subsided significantly in Iraq over the past years, although concerns of renewed conflict have increased since US President Barack Obama last month announced all American troops will leave Iraq by the end of the year.
Decades of war and years of crippling economic sanctions have stalled Iraq’s efforts to renovate the country’s infrastructure that would attract high-profile international events and sports tournaments.
In September, the football’s world governing body banned Iraq from playing any home qualifiers. FIFA said the decision was prompted by the “general security situation” in Iraq, and stadium failures in the Kurdish city of Irbil when Iraq hosted Jordan in a World Cup qualifier.
Waleed Hameed, the head of Sports and Youth Council in Basra, said the decision to strip Iraq of Gulf Cup’s hosting rights is not based on the “reality on the ground.”
“When the Gulf officials visited the sites, they praised our work,” Hameed said. He added that 70 percent of the venues, including eight six-story buildings that would make up the teams’ and delegations’ living quarters, are finished and the project will be completed by June 2013.
“They issued their report that has nothing to do with reality on the ground,” Hameed said. “I think that politics played a great role in this.”
