Qatar — the ultimate sporting destination

ARAB GAMES CHRONOLOGY EDITION YEAR HOST CITY
1st 1953  Alexandria, EGYPT
2nd 1957  Beirut, LEBANON
3rd 1961 Casablanca, MOROCCO
4th  1965  Cairo, EGYPT
5th 1976  Damascus, SYRIA
6th 1985  Rabat, MOROCCO
7th 1992  Damascus, SYRIA
8th  1997  Beirut, LEBANON
9th 1999  Amman, JORDAN
10th 2004  Algiers, ALGERIA
11th 2007  Cairo, EGYPT
12th 2011  Doha, QATAR

MEDAL TALLY AFTER 11 ARAB GAMES

Twenty-three different NOCs have won medals in the history of the Arab Games. Egypt is ranked first with a total of 1,066 medals, including 452 gold, 333 silver and 281 bronzes, while Comoros Islands is the only NOC yet to win a medal is. The overall medal tally after 11 editions of the Arab Games is as follows:
*Countries are listed in terms of number of gold medals

COUNTRY  G  S  B  SUM
1  Egypt  452  333  281  1,066
2  Syria   279  228  282  789
3  Morocco  220  196  203  619
4 Tunisia  203  165  235  603
5 Algeria  201  222  249  672
6  U.A.R. * 127  24  54  205
7  Lebanon  70  114  107  291
8  Iraq   66  103  117  286
9  Jordan  52  82  56  190
10 SaudiArabia  40  73  97  210
11  Qatar  33  34  45  112
12  Libya   17  25  35  77
13  Sudan  16  28  22  66
14 Emirates  16  20  26  62
15  Bahrain  11  14  24  49
16 Oman  10  7  12  29
17 Kuwait  6  5  15  26
18 Palestine  4  27  55  86
19 Yemen  3   5   12  20
20 NorthernYemen ** 1   1  2
21 Somalia    4  1  5
22 Djibouti     1  1
23 SouthernYemen **   1  1
24 Comoros Islands
* United Arab Republic (Egypt and Syria from 1958 until 1961).
Egypt continued to be known as U.A.R. until 1971
** Northern Yemen and Southern Yemen unified as Yemen in 1990

UANOC - THE ARAB GAMES UMBRELLA

The Union of Arab National Olympic Committees (UANOC) is the highest organisation of Arab sports, as it includes the 21 Arab NOCs and all of the Arab Union. It was founded in 1976 and is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, under the presidency of IOC member Sultan bin Fahad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia.
In October, 2010, the Secretary General of the Qatar Olympic Committee, Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, was appointed as the UANOC deputy president.
The main role of UANOC is to promote sports in Arab countries and work with Arab and international sports organisations to raise the level of all sports.
This mandate includes the supervision and coordination of the Arab Games and the promotion of the Olympic movement’s goals in the Arab world.
It also focuses on the importance of physical education, developing skills, encouraging creativity and consolidating the spirit of citizenship and belonging among Arab youth.
UANOC is composed of a Public Assembly, an Executive Office and 13 sub-committees. The Union has set up an extensive relationship networks with bodies such as the League of Arab States, National Olympic Committees in Arab states, International Olympic Committee, International Federations, Olympic Solidarity Commission, International Olympic Academy, Federation of International Sports Federations, UNESCO, Federation of European Olympic Committees and various government agencies responsible for sport, physical education and sports medicine.

QATAR OLYMPIC COMMITTEE  PROFILE

Qatar loves sport and the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) is committed to providing opportunities for all in the community to participate in sport and sports-related activities that contribute to the physical and spiritual health of individuals and communities in Qatar and around the world.
The investment that the QOC is making in athlete and venue development, sports bodies and community programs will ensure that Qatar maintains its progress and ensure success for the nation in the future.
This reflects the exact meaning of the main QOC aim, which expresses its sporting vision: “To become a leading nation in bringing the world together through sports.”
The mission of the Qatar Olympic Committee is to put sport and physical recreation activity everywhere in Qatar so as to have harmonious development of men and women.
It includes various objectives, which support the progress and the promotion of sports at all levels and also protects the true athletic spirit, the fair play and the Olympic Movement, in accordance with the Olympic Charter.
QOC was founded in March 14, 1979, and joined theInternational Olympic Committee in 1980, the Olympic Council of Asia in 1981 and the Arab Sports Games Federation in 1982. H.H. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani is the current president of the QOC, a position he has held since December 12, 2000.

PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES
(Code, National Olympic Committee)

Algeria ALG Comité Olympique Algérien
Bahrain BRN Bahrain Olympic Committee Comoros COM Comité Olympique et Sportif des Iles Comores
Djibouti DJI Comité National Olympique Djiboutien
Egypt EGY Egyptian Olympic Committee
Iraq IRQ National Olympic Committee of Iraq
Jordan JOR Jordan Olympic Committee
Kuwait KUW Kuwait Olympic Committee
Lebanon LIB Lebanese Olympic Committee
Libya LBA Libyan Olympic Committee
Mauritania MTN Comité National Olympique et Sportif Mauritanien
Morocco MAR Comité Olympique Marocain
Oman OMA Oman Olympic Committee
Palestine PLE Palestine Olympic Committee
Qatar QAT Qatar Olympic Committee
Saudi Arabia KSA Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee
Somalia SOM Somali Olympic Committee
Sudan SUD Sudan Olympic Committee
Tunisia TUN Comité National Olympique Tunisien
United Arab Emirates UAE United Arab Emirates National Olympic Committee
Yemen YEM Yemen Olympic Committee

ARAB GAMES INFORMATION KEY FACTS AND FIGURES

Event Dates 9-23 December 2011
Days of Competition* 17
Participating NOCs 22
Sports 29 (including 2 Paralympic sports)
Number of Events 353 (217 men/128 women/8 open)Competition Venue Complexes 14
Athletes and Team Officials 6,000
Technical Officials 1,800
Media Representatives 1,100
Volunteers 4,000
Games-Time Staff 5,000
VIPs 500

COMPETITION VENUES

1 Al Gharafa Sports Club Indoor Hall
Football Stadium
Beach Volleyball Arena
2 Al Rayyan Sports Club Football Stadium
Indoor Hall
3 Al Sadd Sports Club Football Stadium
Indoor Hall
4 Al Shaqab Main Arena
5 Aspire Zone Aspire Dome:
Hamad Aquatic Centre; Indoor Hall Khalifa Stadium; Women’s Indoor Hall
6 Doha Golf Club
7 Doha Sailing Club
8 Khalifa International Tennis & Squash
Complex:
Squash Centre; Tennis Indoor Hall
Tennis Outdoor; Courts
9 Lusail Cycling Circuit Cycling
10 Lusail Shooting Complex Archery Range
Shooting Range
11 Mesaieed Endurance Course Race Track
12 Qatar Billiards & Snooker Federation Indoor Hall
13 Qatar Bowling Centre
14 Qatar Sports Club Indoor Hall
HOSTS INFO
Qatar participation in its first Olympic Games in 1976 in Montreal, Canada and has won two medals. The first was the men’s 1,500m bronze that Mohammed Ahmed Sulaiman captured in Barcelona in 1992. Eight years later at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, weightlifter Said Saif Assaad won a bronze medal in the men’s 105kg.
Another key moment for the QOC came in 1978 when Qatari athletes participated for the very first time at the Asian Games. Since then Qatar has won a total of 92 medals, including 27 gold, 28 silver and 37 bronze. At the 2006 Asian Games hosted in Doha, athletes from Qatar won a record 32 medals (nine gold, 12 silver and 11 bronze), while at the 2010 Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China, they claimed 16 medals (four gold, five silver and seven bronze).
In Arab Games competition, Qatar debuted in 1976 in Damascus, Syria, and since then has won 112 medals, including 33 gold, 34 silver and 45 bronze.
HISTORY OF THE ARAB GAMES
The Arab Games were the brainchild of Abdul Rahman Hassan Azzam, the first General Secretary of the Arab League, serving from 1945-1952. In 1947, Azzam submitted a memorandum to the League, advocating a multi-sport tournament that involved the participation of all Arab countries.
According to Azzam, sport could serve as the best way to connect the youth of Arab countries and enable them to build the future of the Arab identity.
As a favourite pastime of young individuals, sporting tournaments encourage them to reach out across boundaries, bond with fellow Arabs and eliminate differences among them.
Azzam then announced that the youth of the entire Arab world was eager to gather for an annual tournament to be held in Arab cities.From then onwards, the youth of Arab nations began to look forward to the Arab Games as a means of uniting them on sporting, social and spiritual platforms while igniting and encouraging a competitive spirit amongst athletes and communities alike.
However, the Arab Games concept did not gain official approval until 1953, when Eng. Ahmed El Demerdash Touny, an Egyptian national and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), managed to convince the concerned parties within the Arab League that an Arab Games tournament would be instrumental to the overall success of the Arab identity.
In response to Touny’s proposal, the Arab League agreed on establishing the Arab Games, and Egypt became the first country to organise an Arab Games tournament. It was held in the scenic and culturally rich city of Alexandria from 26 July-10 August, 1953 with eight Arab nations competing in the inaugural tournament.
Since then 11 editions of the Arab Games have been held in various Arab cities, the last being in 2007 in Cairo, Egypt. It earned widespread praise for its organisation, technical management and quality of participants.
Women first competed in the 1985 Arab Games held in Rabat, Morocco.