Friday December 9 Libya will be one of 21 Arab nations represented for the opening ceremony of the 12th Arab Games Doha 2011″ at the Khalifa International Stadium. The event, to be hosted by the State of Qatar wraps up on December 23. It will feature 29 sports and over 6,000 athletes and officials and will also be accompanied by other multi-sport event.
The opening ceremony, to be attended by more than one thousand people will feature new technology to be used for the first time in opening ceremonies of major sporting events.
While top Arab athletes compete against each other within the 14 fully-equipped competition venues, prime non-competition venues such as the Athletes Village, Katara, Souq Waqef, and Aspire Park. Activities will run throughout the day at each destination during the entire games period.
Musical artists and dance troupes representing Qatar, Tunisia, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq will entertain athletes, officials, and visitors at the Athletes Village throughout the games period.
Cultural events related to the Arab Games are not limited to the Athletes Village Katara, the Cultural Village, is also a key destination, featuring the increasingly appreciated Arab Games Exhibit.
The Arab Games Exhibit is a rich collection of memorabilia from past occurrences of the much-anticipated Arab multisport event, launched by the Qatar Museums Authority (QMA). The exhibition is an initiative by the Qatar Olympic & Sports Museum at QMA, supported by its partners Qatar Olympic Committee and Egyptian Olympic Committee.
Demonstrating a chronological narrative of the Games, the exhibition will feature items from the games, including medals, posters, programmes, films and interviews of athletes, photographs, and educational activities that inform visitors about the history of the Arab Games, which first took place in Alexandria, Egypt, back in 1953.
The exhibition is divided into five sections, each portraying different periods of the Arab Games since their inception in 1947.
In addition, the Arab Games Exhibition sheds light on the participation and achievements of Qatari athletes in past Arab Games, showcasing some of their trophies, medals, and pictures. Alongside the exhibition, a series of educational events catering to school children from various age groups are also to be organised in the near future.
Libya, just out of an eight-month long conflict that successfully ousted the former dictatorial regime, will participate in two team events, football and goalball (a team sport designed for blind athletes). In football the team will take the opportunity to weigh up its strength in view of the more important Africa Cup of Nations finals next month in Gambia and Equatorial Guinea.
In the Games, Libya has been drawn in Group C, to play Sudan on Sunday, Palestine on Wednesday, and Jordan on Saturday December 17.
Occurring in Dohas short, mild winter season, the Arab Games Doha 2011 coincide with the countrys National Day celebrations, making it an ideal opportunity for visitors to experience Qatar during one of its most of festive times of the year.
On December 18, Qatars National Day, this year, all local and visiting athletes present in Qatar are to take part in the ceremonial events and festivities associated with the national holiday. A large open field opposite Grand Regency Hotel has been designated to host the National Day events which include traditional musical and theatrical stage performances, as well as a showcase of Qatars heritage. Arda, a Qatari folk dance, including over 30 lead performers, will be the highlight of the evening.
Thirty three disciplines will be part of the competition during Arab Games. They include, Archery, Athletics, Aquatics Swimming, Bodybuilding, Basketball, Bowling, Boxing, Chess, Cue Sports, Cycling Road, Jumping, Dressage, Endurance, Fencing, Football, Golf, Shooting, Artistic Gymnastics, Trampoline, Handball, Judo, Karate, Sailing, Squash, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Beach Volley, Indoor Volleyball, Weightlifting, Wrestling, Para-Athletics and Goalball.
The competing nations are 21, with Syria having withdrawn due to the turmoil in the country. The participants will be: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, LIBYA, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
The Arab Games Organising Committee (AGOC) has selected 4000 volunteers working across the different areas of AGOC to help deliver a world-class regional sporting event.
Courtesy of: http://feb17.info
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