Earlier,
Morocco had been appointed to organize these Arab Games. Due to domestic
affairs, it withdrew. Lebanon proposed its interest in hosting the event and
the UANOC welcomed the bid.
Nawal
El-Moutawakel, International Olympic Committee member and president of the
evaluation commission for the selection of the host city for the 2012 and 2016
Summer Olympic Games, was assigned to head the team that will follow up with the
organizing committee to ensure the success of the 13th Arab Games.
President
of the Arab Games Organizing Committee Sheikh Saud Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani
was praised for hosting the 12th Arab Games. The event is now taking place in
Doha until Dec. 23. The president has documented all Arab athletes’ records in
Arab tournaments to get them recognized by international federations. He
recommended the continuation of this process.
The
UANOC members agreed a team should visit all Arabic countries to gauge how many
would host sports activities and tournaments and the opportunities they might
provide to sports development.
Syria
will receive a letter, the members decided, about the country’s interest in
hosting the first Arab Games for youth in 2013. If Syria would want to
withdraw, other countries would be willing to host the event.
The
UAE proposed to host the 1st Arab Women Sports Tournament at Sharjah Ladies
Club in Sharjah. The competition in five sports will be held Feb. 2-12, 2012.
The
newly formed UANOC’s Arab Olympic Academy Committee is based in Jordan and will be
headed by President Atif Odaibat. The recently established Arab Federation for
Heritage and Traditional Sports is based in Lebanon. President Maroun Khaleel
will lead this 64th Arab sport federation.
Prince
Nawaf ibn Faisal, president of the UANOC, encouraged attendees to attend and participate in the upcoming 5th World Conference on Women and Sport to be held
in Los Angeles on Feb. 16-18, 2012. The conference titled "Together Stronger: The
Future of Sport" is being organized by the International Olympic Committee, the
United States Olympic Committee and the Southern California Committee for the
Olympic Games.
