The draw for Gulf 25 in Basra results in strong confrontations with a high-level presence
>> The President of the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation, Adnan Darjal, Asaad Al-Eidani and Jassim Al-Rumaihi presented the attendance
>> Choosing the historical figure “Sinbad the Sailor” to be the mascot of the tournament
>> An influential presence from various media outlets, representatives of the participating federations and teams, and guests of the ceremony
Today, Tuesday, the draw for the Arab Gulf Cup “25” was held at the Grand Millennium Basra Hotel, which will be hosted by the Iraqi province of Basra, from January 6, 2023 until January 19.
The draw ceremony was attended by His Excellency Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani, President of the Arab Gulf Cup Football Association, President of the Qatar Football Association, and a number of high-ranking personalities, led by the Minister of Youth and Sports, President of the Iraqi Football Association “Adnan Darjal”, and the Governor of Basra “Assaad Al-Eidani”. Jassim Al-Rumaihi, Secretary-General of the Arab Gulf Cup Football Association, members of the Executive Office, representatives of member federations, representatives of the federation’s committees, delegations of the eight participating teams, and representatives of the local organizing committee.
The draw ceremony was also honored by the presence of some of the ambassadors of some countries, a group of public figures, a group of guests from the Gulf football symbols and stars, and a group of different media outlets.
The draw resulted in the teams of Iraq, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Oman in the first group, while the second group included the teams of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE.
The ceremony of the draw was presented by the Iraqi broadcaster Zainab Rabie, which began with a welcome speech from the Minister of Youth and Sports, President of the Iraqi Football Association, “Adnan Darjal”.
Darjal said in the opening speech of the draw: “This largest gathering that Iraq has hosted for a long time is a historic event and we are very happy for the championship to return to Iraq’s stadiums after an absence of nearly 43 years after Baghdad hosted the Gulf 5 for the first time.”
He added: “We faced great challenges in order to reach to host the tournament, and we succeeded in presenting the Basra file, which will impress everyone, God willing, during the competitions that will be held early next year. We value and praise the role of the Gulf federations in assigning the task of hosting the tournament to the city of Basra, which expressed Its full readiness to receive Gulf and Arab delegations.
The second paragraph came with the presentation of a short film about the previous championship (Gulf 24) hosted by Qatar, followed by a short film showing the history of the city of Basra and its cultural heritage, in addition to choosing the historical character “Sinbad the Bahri” to be the mascot of the tournament, with the release of a song that simulates the cohesion of the Gulf peoples, and the familiarity that unites them.
This was followed by Hamad Al-Hajri, representative of the Arab Gulf Cup Federation, to conduct the draw ceremony, in which Habib Jaafar, the former Iraqi star, and Jamal Mubarak, the former Kuwaiti star, and Al-Hajri began to explain the system of the lottery and how to distribute the teams according to the latest international classification of FIFA, after the Iraqi team was placed (Host country) at the top of the first group and Bahrain (the last 24th Gulf Cup holder) at the head of the second group.
The six participating teams were then placed in three levels, the first level included Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the second level included Oman and the UAE, and the third level included Kuwait and Yemen. The tournament schedule, including stadiums, times and dates, will be announced in full at a later time.