Dubai: Iraq and Yemen may be included as full-time members of the GCC Games as early as the third edition of the event.
The decision to include the two nations into the fold was conveyed by Prince Saud Bin Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Governor of the Eastern region of Saudi Arabia, during the opening of the second GCC Games in Dammam.
The second edition was hit last week with the last-minute withdrawal of Kuwait for unspecified reasons. However, the organising committee decided to allow a representative delegation to carry the Kuwaiti national flag at the opening ceremony at the Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd Stadium.
Meanwhile, the UAE has sent a strong bowling squad consisting of Fahd Al Mansouri, Mahmoud Al Attar, Hussain Al Suwaidi, Sultan Al Qubaisi, Shaker Al Hassan and Nayef Oqab.
On Tuesday, the players will be in involved in the singles competition, followed by the duos the following day and triples on Thursday, before the masters finals on October 25.
The UAE swimming squad also landed in Dammam on Friday so that they have at least a couple of days to finalise preparations for the competition starting on Monday. The national squad consists of 13 swimmers along with administrative and technical staff. Khalid Al Suwaidi, Mubarak Al Bishr, Mohammad Al Muhairi, Mohammad Ghaferi, Yaqoub Al Sa’adi, Ali Saeed Al Kaabi, Abdullah Al Falasi, Ahmad Ali Al Kaabi and Ahmad Al Hosni are expected to do well.
