GCC Beach Games 2015 preparations well underway in Doha

Sport360 staff 16:15 16/03/2015
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  • Full plans announced for Doha Beach Games 2015.

    The Qatar Olympic Committee has announced the full plans for the Doha 2015 GCC Beach Games. Over 300 athletes from across the GCC will participate in 13 events across seven sporting disciplines from April 2-9 2015. 

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    After the first edition held in Bahrain in 2010, this year’s GCC Beach Games will be staged in Doha’s state-of-the-art facilities and iconic landmarks over an action-packed eight day sporting spectacle.

    The multi-purpose complex at Al-Gharafa Club will host the volleyball, handball, football and 3×3 basketball events, while Katara Cultural Village, situated on Doha’s Corniche, will host open water swimming, rowing and sailing.

    Commenting on Doha’s hosting of the Beach Games,  Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, said:

    “It is an honour to be hosting the second edition of GCC Beach Games in Doha. The hosting of Beach Games is still a relatively young concept on the international sporting calendar and we aim to use our staging of this event to raise the profile of beach sports in Qatar, across the GCC and internationally in order to inspire greater participation and assist with their global growth and development.

    "We hope that Doha’s stunning backdrop, ideal conditions and state-of-the-art facilities will provide an excellent opportunity to showcase beach sports to new audiences.”

    The concept of a Beach Games was created by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) with the staging of the first-ever Asian Beach Games in Bali, Indonesia in 2008, and is seen as a pioneer in bringing new sports to the sand.

    The Asian Beach Games have been held every two years since, with the most recent edition being hosted in 2014 in Phuket, Thailand. Its popularity and success led to a resolution at the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) General Assembly in November 2014 to launch a World Beach Games, with the first event set to take place in 2017.

    In addition to over 300 athletes, the GCC Beach Games will see the participation of 70 team officials and 150 technical officials from the six GCC countries including hosts Qatar, as well as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and the UAE.

    Also commenting on Doha’s hosting of the Games, Executive Director of the Organizing Committee, Khalid al-Muhanadi, said:

    “We are pleased with the progress of our preparations for the GCC Beach Games and we are fully on track to deliver our commitments.

    "We will utilise our past experience of successfully hosting world-class events, such as the 2011 Arab Games, the 2014 FINA Swimming World Cup, and more recently the 2015  Men’s World Handball Championship, to deliver an exceptional GCC Beach Games and further solidify Doha’s regional and international role as a centre for sporting excellence.”

    Doha has already hosted 17 GCC events in the past year alone, with a total of 43 international sports events being hosted by the sports-passionate city in 2014. This hosting of world-class sports events will continue throughout 2015 with highlights including World Championship events in Boxing and IPC Athletics taking place in October.

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