25th Gulf Cup postponed to January 2023

The Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation (AGCFF) announced the postponement of the 25th edition of the Gulf Cup to January, 2023. The tournament was scheduled to be held in Basrah, Iraq, in December this year.  The announcement was made during the extraordinary meeting of the AGCFF’s General Assembly, which was chaired yesterday by President of the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation HE Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Thani.The decision of the postponement came as a result of “the great pressure on the agenda of the Gulf federations locally, continentally and internationally”, in addition to “deficiencies in the file of the city of Basra’s readiness to host the tournament.” The inspection committee formed by the Gulf Football Association headed by the Yemeni Hamid al-Shaibani, had made several field inspection visits to Basra’s civilian facilities, including stadiums and hotels, and submitted reports that were discussed by the Executive Office of the Federation during the meeting. Some Gulf federations also pressed towards postponing the event until after the FIFA World Cup, which Qatar will host during the months of November and December 2022.The football calendar for the Gulf teams is packed in the coming months, as six of the eight teams participating in the Gulf Cup will participate in the FIFA Arab Cup, that will be held in Qatar during the period between Nov 31 and Dec 18 this yearAlong with hosts Qatar, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, and Oman will take part in Arab Cup. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and the UAE will also participate in the final round of the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup, while the Gulf clubs will know continental participations in the AFC Champions League and in the local press leagues. The Gulf Cup is held every two years, and the first edition was held in Bahrain in 1970 and the last in Qatar in 2019.