Sports | Sunday 4 October, 2015 11:56 am |

Ruler of Sharjah and Sheikha Jawaher Al Qasimi are the main supporters for the Arab Women Sports

Khalid bin Ahmed Al Qasimi announces the slogan: "Your World, Your Court, Together Victorious"

Nada Al Naqbi: “The agreement is a boon for the Tournament”

5 countries confirmed to compete for tournament’s 1st ever trophy

For immediate release

Sharjah, 3 October 2015

The Supreme Organizing Committee of the Arab Women Sports Tournament (AWST) -Sharjah 2016- has been awarded all rights to sell sponsorship, advertising, marketing and TV broadcast of its 3rd tournament and its revenues.

To this effect, the Tournament’s Organizing Committee signed an agreement with the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees (UANOC), a groundbreaking achievement for the Sharjah Ladies Club's (SLC) Women Sports Department, exemplifying UANOC's recognition of the immense efforts and contributions by the Women Sports Department in supporting the Union's programmes and the development of Arab women sports.

The agreement was signed by HRH Prince Talal bin Badr bin Saud Bin Abdulaziz, Chairman of the Arab Sports Council and the UANOC and HE Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairman of the tournament’s Supreme Organizing Committee, with the attendance of HE Sheikha Hayat Bint Abdul Aziz Al Khalifah, Chairperson of the Follow-up Committee of the 3rd AWST and. Nada Askar Al Naqbi, Head of AWST’s Executive Committee, Tournament’s Manager and Follow-up Committee Member.

Along with, attended the meeting Khalid Al Hussein, Member of the Follow-up Committee and representative of the General Authority for Youth Welfare and Sports, Saad Saleh Al Sofyani, Follow-up Committee Member, and Hamda Al Shamsi, representative of the National Olympic Committee, as well as heads of the Tournament's administrative committees and media representatives.

The 3rd AWST will be held under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, and Chairperson of SLC.

Signed yesterday during the supervisory and follow-up committee’s second meeting, the agreement specifies that the tournament’s Supreme Organizing Committee will bear all costs of the main supervisory committees, including accommodation, living, travelling, ticket fares and related expenses.

The agreement stipulates that the UANOC is committed to granting all sponsorship and marketing rights to the Supreme Organising Committee of the tournament. The Union also pledges to devote every possible effort and provision to facilitate the tournament’s success, most notably the formation of the tournament's main committees according to its general regulations.

The agreement provides strong foundations for efficient collaboration between the Union and the Supreme Organizing Committee, to ensure that the 3rd AWST - which is expecting the participation of a multitude of sportswomen from various Arab countries - will be a world-class event.

The Union and the Organizing Committee praised the tremendous work done by SLC's Women Sports Department and its undeniable role in advancing Arab - and particularly UAE - women's sports.

In his speech during the meeting, Prince Talal Bin Badr Bin Saud Bin Abdulaziz praised the big role played by HH Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah and Member of the Supreme Council of UAE for his support towards women sports. Additionally, he lauded the Patronage of HH Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammend AL Qasimi leading AWST which led AWST to achieve remarkable results.

From her side, Sheikha Hayat Bint Abdul Aziz Al Khalifah appreciated the great cooperation between the UANOC and AWST’s Supreme Organising Committee. She noted that AWST achieved significant successes, not only at the level of competitions, but also successes recorded for the sport march of Arab women in general.

Approving the tournament's slogan

Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Sultan Al Qasimi announced the tournament's new slogan: "Your World, Your Court, Together Victorious".

"We want this slogan to serve as an incentive for the women participating in the tournament's competitions, to unleash their dreams and bolster their aspirations and ambitions. Arab female athletes can achieve victories not only within our own communities but also on a global level. The slogan aims to motivate the audience, both men and women, to encourage the participating sportswomen and support them in moments of trial and victory."

Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Al Qasimi thanked Prince Talal Bin Badr Bin Saud Bin Abdulaziz, and Sheikha Hayat Bint Abdul Aziz Al Khalifah for their ongoing support to make the Arab Women's Sports Tournament a success.

He conveyed the greetings of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, to the heads and members of the Follow-up Committee, and her emphasis that she will continue to uphold Arab women's sports and raise the tournament's profile on the sports calendar.

"What makes me happy during our involvement in this tournament preparation is seeing the large number of wonderful Arab women who support all efforts to develop the women's sports scene in the Arab world, in words and actions. We saw many of our Arab brothers who strongly support female athletes to strengthen the sports status. We also do not forget women who struggled and challenged to continue their path towards success," Sheikh Khalid Al Qasimi remarked.

He added: "Our aim is perfection: to best coordinate this tournament in terms of its organizational and technical aspects so as to attract more audiences. We want to rise to the challenge and construct a premium tournament that lives up to the stature of Arab women and their status in our Arab world, including its past, present and future. This will only be achieved by through complete cooperation, stemming from our sincere belief in Arab women who deserve to excel and lead on the global sports arena."

Tournament’s Cup: Presented for first time

Nada Al Naqbi lauded the agreement, asserting that it is in favor of AWST and will greatly contribute to its success. She pointed out that all efforts are focused on providing a special edition, following the great success achieved in the previous two tournaments.

Al Naqba mentioned that the 2nd Arab Women Sports Tournament saw the participation of 54 clubs from 13 countries, reflecting its growing popularity.

“The positive results achieved in the last two editions, and what we seek to accomplish through the third one, is only the beginning of the next one as HH Sheikha Jawaher Al Qasimi looks forward to further progress and improving the efficiency of Arab women in sports, as she believes that Arab female athletes can compete internationally, therefore they deserve to receive all the support and encouragement to make this dream come true."

Unveiling the latest developments on the tournament, Al Naqbi said, "Registration is open via the Tournament’s official website (www.awst.ae) and participation requests have been accepted since September 17th. Guest-list invitations have been prepared, noting that they will participate in the in the Sports Law Conference, which will take place in Marrakech, Morocco, from November 3-5.

Five countries confirmed their participation so far

The highlight of this tournament is that a trophy has been allocated for AWST for the first time. "It was suggested to add something new to the tournament to motivate and encourage Arab Olympic Committees to participate in with the largest possible number of clubs and female players from around the Arab world. The trophy will be given to the Olympic Committee of the winning country winner because that is the Olympic committees are the only authorized bodies to give approval to clubs to participate in the tournament".

Al Naqbi noted that five countries have so far confirmed their participation within a short timespan since the announcement of the opening of registration two weeks ago.

"Libya will participate in five games, namely table tennis, fencing, archery, athletics and bow and arrow, while Yemen will participate in seven games, including show jumping, volleyball, bow and arrow, athletics, archery, table tennis and fencing, and Jordan will take part in volleyball only. Other countries include Kuwait, which will participate in four games featuring basketball, volleyball, table tennis and athletics. The fifth country is the UAE where Al Wasl Club will participate in volleyball, and Al Nasr Club will compete in basketball."

The Arab Women Sports Tournement was launched after the Sharjah Ladies Club (founded in 1982 as an institution of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs) organized a number of successful sports tournaments called “Gulf Countries Competition”. Following this success HH Sheikha Jawaher establish the Women Sports Department in 2008. Arab countries outside the Gulf expressed interest in taking part in future events and as a result, HH Sheikha Jawaher developed the Arab Women Sports Tournament, the first of its kind in the Arab World. Two editions of AWST have already been successfully organized in 2012 and 2014.