His Excellency Mohammed ben Sulayem, Secretary-General of the National Olympic Committee, participated in the 33rd meeting of Their Highnesses, Excellencies, and presidents of the Olympic Committees of the GCC, which was held yesterday morning, Thursday morning, via video communication technology. The meeting was also attended by Her Excellency Azza bint Suleiman, Assistant Secretary-General for Administrative and Financial Affairs of the Committee.
The meeting was chaired by His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, First Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, President of the General Authority of Sports and President of the Bahrain Olympic Committee.
Presidents of the GCC Olympic committees reviewed the agenda, where it was decided to assign the work teams and organizing committees for sports, both in their respective fields, to implement the decisions and directives issued by the Al-Ula Declaration and the final statement of the 41st session of the Supreme Council (Al-Ula, January 2021) in the field of sports, and to emphasize the Olympic committees to continue developing work to achieve The aspirations and hopes of the athletes of the GCC countries, the provision of an environment conducive to creativity, excellence and development, the submission of periodic reports in this regard, and the exchange of efforts, expertise and experiences regarding the development of the sports work system in the National Olympic Committees for the benefit of all.
The Council agreed to adopt the regulations for a working group to follow up the implementation of the strategic plan for the development of joint Gulf action in the field of sports, and to approve the proposal to change the time period of the plan to be from 2022 until the Los Angeles Olympics 2028, and the combined Gulf and Olympic courses are included in the plan to turn from a short strategic plan Range to medium term strategic plan.
With regard to international cooperation in the field of joint sports work, and after the Council was briefed on the recommendations of the Executive Office, they stressed the importance of making joint cooperation agreements between the GCC countries, regional and international organizations and friendly countries clear and applicable and beneficial to both sides, and setting standards of measurement through which they can be reviewed and the general framework unified. Agreements and presenting them to specialists and legal experts for review.
The Council of Their Highnesses and Excellencies, the presidents of the GCC Olympic Committees, extended their sincere thanks and appreciation to Kuwait for its preparations to host the third Gulf Games, which will be hosted from 9 to 19 January 2022. The organizing committees were to provide all forms of technical support while harnessing all their capabilities to make the tournament a success. The request of the Kuwaiti Olympic Committee to cancel equestrian sports (show jumping) and include table tennis among the optional games was also approved.
The Council approved the nomination of Sheikha Naima Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, honorary chair of the Organizing Committee for Women's Sports in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, based on the proposal submitted by the Oman Olympic Committee, in honor of her and in appreciation of her efforts and services for Gulf women's sports.
The council decided to coordinate between the General Secretariat with the next presidency 2022 to determine the place and time of the 34th meeting of the presidents of the GCC Olympic committees and the preparatory meeting for it.