Muscat: Engineer Jasem Mohammad Ja'afar, the Iraqi Minister of Youth and Sports, confirmed that his country will be ready to host the 21st Gulf Cup in 2013.
"We have already started preparing for the tournament," Ja'afar told a press conference yesterday at Crown Plaza hotel Muscat, the media hotel of the Gulf Cup.
"The government has allocated half a billion dollars for the construction of a state-of-the-art sports city in Basra.
"That includes a football stadium in addition to an Olympic-size swimming pool and indoor halls for basketball, handball and volleyball.
"We selected Basra to host the tournament because it is a safe part of our country and nearer to all the other participating countries than any other city in Iraq.
"We are waiting for the approval of their highnesses, the rulers, their excellencies and the ministers of youth and sports in the participating teams for us to host the 21st Gulf Cup."
Fifa has prohibited playing official international football matches in Iraq because of the security situation there.
