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Emirates 24/7
12-05-2025
- Sport
- Emirates 24/7
Kuwait Emir receives Mansoor bin Mohammed
Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al Sabah, Emir of the State of Kuwait, today received H.H. Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE National Olympic Committee, who is in Kuwait to attend the 37th meeting of the Presidents of the Olympic Committees of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The Emir of Kuwait welcomed H.H. Sheikh Mansoor and his accompanying delegation at Bayan Palace in Kuwait's capital, expressing his appreciation for the leadership, government, and people of the UAE, and emphasising the deep fraternal ties between the two countries and their peoples. For his part, H.H. Sheikh Mansoor expressed his immense pleasure about his visit to Kuwait and expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome and generous hospitality extended to him and his delegation. During the meeting, H.H. Sheikh Mansoor conveyed to His Highness the Emir of Kuwait the greetings of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan; and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai; along with their best wishes for Sheikh Meshal's continued health and happiness, and for continued progress and prosperity of the State of Kuwait and its kind people. Attending the meeting alongside H.H. Sheikh Mansoor were Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of Sport and Vice President of the UAE National Olympic Committee; Dr. Matar Hamed Al Neyadi, UAE Ambassador to Kuwait; and Faris Mohammed Al Mutawa, Secretary-General of the UAE National Olympic Committee. Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.
Qatar Tribune
10-05-2025
- Sport
- Qatar Tribune
QOC participates in Executive Board Meeting of GCC Olympic Committees Presidents' Council
The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) participated in the 101th Executive Board Meeting of the Presidents of the GCC National Olympic Committees, held in Kuwait on Saturday. The QOC delegation was led by Sheikh Khalifa bin Khalid Al Thani, Director of the Sports Sector, and included Mohammed Issa Al Fadala, Director of the Sports Affairs Department. The meeting was also attended by the Secretaries-General of the GCC Olympic Committees. Discussions during the meeting focused on key topics, most notably the third edition of the GCC Beach Games, which was successfully hosted last month in Muscat, Oman. The meeting reviewed a report on the event, highlighting its organization and outcomes. The meeting also addressed items on the agenda, including the upcoming 4th GCC Games – Qatar 2026, the 2nd GCC Youth Games in 2028, the Sports Law and Management Conference, the Unified Platform for Gulf Women's Sports, and the GCC Women's Sports Hackathon Program. The Executive Board approved a number of recommendations, which will be submitted for review at the 37th Meeting of the GCC Olympic Committees Presidents' Council, scheduled to take place on Sunday.
Kuwait Times
10-05-2025
- Sport
- Kuwait Times
GCC Olympic officials affirm support for women
KUWAIT: The Executive Office of the GCC National Olympic Committees reaffirmed its support for the Unified Platform for Gulf Women's Sports during its 101st meeting, held Saturday in Kuwait under the chairmanship of Acting Secretary General of the Kuwait Olympic Committee, Captain Ali Al-Merri. Originally approved in 2023, the Unified Platform aims to strengthen the visibility and development of women's sports across the Gulf region. It features a unified digital identity for female athletes, an official accredited website dedicated to women's sports news relevant to the GCC Secretariat General, and a centralized space to highlight the role of sporting organizations in advancing women's sports in member countries. As part of its continued push for innovation, the committee also approved the launch of a Gulf Women's Sports Hackathon as an annual or regular event under the supervision of the GCC Advisory Committee for Women's Sports. Last held in Oman in 2024, the hackathon aims to enhance the role of women in the field of sports, in addition to exchanging knowledge between the GCC countries to enhance sports culture in the region. The event includes workshops presented by specialists and experts in women's sports programs. In addition to the women's sports initiatives, the Executive Office discussed several major topics: Preparation for the 3rd Gulf Beach Games in Muscat in 2025, congratulating Oman for its successful hosting efforts; approval of Kuwait's bid to host the 2nd GCC Youth Games in 2028; approval of the UAE's request to host the 1st Sports Law and Administration Conference in 2026; support for Qatar's preparations for hosting the 4th Gulf Sports Games in 2026; and review of the draft unified statute for GCC sports federations. Representing Kuwait at the meeting was Sheikh Jaber Thamer Al-Sabah, member of the Board of Directors of the Kuwait Olympic Committee, along with Secretaries-General from the Gulf countries and Abdullah Al-Rabiei, Head of the Human and Environmental Affairs Sector at the GCC Secretariat General. — KUNA
Arab News
29-01-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Battle for powerful IOC presidency enters final stretch
BERLIN: Only a few people around the world know the name Thomas Bach and even fewer can rattle off those of the seven candidates out to replace him in March after 12 years as president of the International Olympic Committee. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport Yet despite that low profile, there is no bigger or more influential job in sport, and Bach's successor will wield extraordinary political and financial clout across every country in the world. When the IOC's 100-plus members, who include billionaires, global captains of industry, federation chiefs and royalty, go to the ballot in Greece on March 20 they will be effectively deciding on the direction much of the world of sport will take for the next eight years. World Athletics chief and former Olympic 1,500 meters champion Sebastian Coe is the biggest name of the seven candidates. Standing against him are Zimbabwe's sports minister and former Olympic swimmer Kirsty Coventry, the late former IOC president's son Juan Antonio Samaranch, and international cycling chief David Lappartient. Completing the lineup are Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan, international gymnastics federation head Morinari Watanabe and Olympic newcomer and multi-millionaire Johan Eliasch. They will each present their case to replace 71-year-old Bach to the membership in Lausanne on Thursday, ahead of a final two-month push of behind-the-scenes lobbying. Richest organization The IOC is by far the biggest and richest sports organization in the world, dwarfing even world soccer's ruling body FIFA, and wields its influence over almost every major international federation, new sports and national Olympic Committees. With multi-billion revenues from sponsors and broadcasters, it is far from limited to just hosting the summer and winter Olympics. The IOC has a direct or indirect say in every major international decision on sport, whether financial, political or structural. Sports do not only depend on Olympic funding over the Games' four-year cycle, they are also reliant on the Olympic spotlight. New sports battle for Olympic recognition which brings a significant boost in publicity and awareness and can trigger new streams of revenue to fund growth. In Bach's 12 years in charge, the German lawyer also developed close ties with many political leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country hosted the 2024 Olympics, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin was the first to congratulate Bach immediately after his election back in 2013, calling minutes after the vote as his country prepared to host the Sochi Winter Olympics, with an unprecedented cost of $51 billion. Sochi was subsequently tarnished by revelations of a massive state-backed doping system in Russia that turned into the biggest international drugs scandal in decades and forced the country's athletes to compete as neutrals in several Olympics. Dealing with Russia, and the issue of trans and DSD (differences in sexual development) athletes in sport, featured in most of the candidates' manifestos. But anyone thinking they will be primarily judged on their ability to bring peace and harmony, and promote sport and health around the world, is sadly deluded. 'In this presidential election everyone votes for themselves. It is about money. The share for each stakeholder. It is no surprise that there are four federation presidents campaigning,' an international federation chief, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. 'Maybe it would have been more effective if there was only one representing the federations. But everyone has their own agenda in this election.' Robust finances The IOC collected revenues of $2.295 billion from its top sponsors for the period 2017-2021, the second-biggest source of income for the Olympic movement, with broadcasters paying $4.544 billion over the same period. Bach's departure comes with the organization in a financially robust position, having secured $7.3 billion for 2025-28 and $6.2 billion for 2029-2032. More deals are expected for both four-year periods. The IOC says it pumps about 90 percent of its revenues back into sports with payments to each Olympic federation, to national Olympic committees and athletes' scholarships among others. Many of the smaller federations depend on that IOC contribution to get through the four years until the next Olympics. More than half a billion dollars was split among the federations from the Tokyo Olympics, with the share from the Paris 2024 Games to top $600 million. Top earners like athletics, gymnastics and swimming get more than $50 million. National Olympic Committees also received a total of $540 million after the Tokyo Olympics. The IOC covers 50 percent of the costs of running the World Anti-Doping Agency which it helped to set up more than 25 years ago. Much of what cash goes where, though, is down to the president's personal Olympic vision and in a matter of weeks that extraordinary global power is about to change hands.
