Dh9m granted to three disciplines

Dubai: Ebrahim Abdul Malek, the secretary general of the UAE National Olympic Committee (NOC), has said that the budget for hosting team tournaments - for handball, volleyball and basketball - during the Gulf Cup will be Dh9 million.

"The Dh9 million budget is a generous gesture of the Gulf Cup supreme organising committee. I think it will cover all expenses for the three associations in preparing their respective teams for the tournament," said Abdul Malek in a press conference held at the NOC premises yesterday.

The NOC secretary general said basketball will be played at the Rashid Bin Hamdan indoor sports hall at the Al Nasr Club in Dubai (from January 18-24).

Volleyball matches will be held at the Al Jazira indoor hall in Abu Dhabi (from January 22-28) while handball will be staged at the Al Ain Club indoor hall (from January 19-26).

"We tried hard to hold these matches for the Gulf Cup, away from soccer or at least make sure that they do not clash with the UAE's matches. We hope the TV channels will co-ordinate to cover the volleyball, basketball and handball matches as well as those of soccer."

"It was an old idea to organise the GCC Olympics. However, it was scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia, 15 years ago, but could not be held. I hope we, in the Gulf countries, will be able to organise the GCC Games in the future which in turn will contribute towards the development of the standard of sports in our countries," Abdul Malek said.

Esmail Al Gergawi, the UAE Basketball Association board chairman, said the association often faced problems as various national team players were not released from their professional assignments for joining the national team's training camps and also for turning out in tournaments.

"I think the corporations concerned ought to stick to the cabinet decision and release the players because they are on national duty, just like the soldiers," Al Gergawi said.

Mohammad Jalfar, the Volleyball Association chairman, said his team were well prepared and ready to win the GCC title. "The team is well prepared and the players have promised us to clinch it," said Jalfar.