Participants from GCC countries during the 5th GCC Women Games

KUWAIT CITY, March 8: The 5th GCC Women Games officially kicked off on Tuesday, March 7 under the auspices of the Vice-Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development Sheikha Hind Bint Hamad al-Thani.The event is taking place at the Khalifa Tennis and Squash Complex and is due to continue until March 17. A total of 891 sportswomen and administrative and technical teams representing four GCC countries, namely Kingdom of Bahrain, Sultanate of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and the host — State of Qatar are participating in the games. The 5th GCC Women Games are being held for the first time with ten activities — athletics, Taekwondo, basketball, volleyball, handball, fencing, archery, table tennis, bowling and chess.Three activities have been cancelled — horseracing, long tennis and athletics for the disabled. The opening ceremony started with speeches of the Chairperson of Qatar’s Women Sports Committee and the Executive Director of the 5th GCC Women Games Lulwa Hussein Al-Merri and the Head of Organizing Committee for the GCC Women Sports Sheikha Naeema Al-Ahmad Al- Sabah.During the ceremony, Sheikha Naeema Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah affirmed that the 5th GCC Women Games will prove the ability of GCC women in practicing their role in the process of social building and their entry in the field of competitive sports as organizer, player, trainer, administrator and referee just like their male counterparts. She said the organizational, administrative and technical experiences of GCC women have proven to be an important element in the Gulf social system. Head of Organizing Committee for GCC Women Sports Sheikha Naeema Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah during her speech at the opening ceremony. Sheikha Naeema Al-Sabah explained that the Doha Games is considered as one of the fruits of the joint Gulf cooperation which has helped in providing opportunities to the Gulf sportswomen to be part of the noble competitive atmosphere and hold sisterly meetings which have embodied the deep relations that link the GCC countries together. She affirmed that hosting similar events in the future will help improve and develop the skills of the Gulf sportswomen as well as enhance the huge role of sports in general in the regional countries in pushing forward the wheel of sports development in the region