Blatter will attend 21st Gulf Cup

Fifa president Joseph Sepp Blatter, will be attending the opening ceremony of the 21st Gulf Cup next month in Bahrain, the organising committee announced yesterday. The event is scheduled to take place from January 5 to 18, with the National Stadium in Riffa being the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies. The Organising Committee received an official letter from the FIFA chief, in which he accepted an invitation that was initiated by Chairman of the Executive Committee of Gulf Cup Shaikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa last October. The presence of Blatter in this edition Gulf Cup affirmed his support to this prestigious regional football competition, and also underlines the unique reputation thath this event has reached since it was founded in 1970. The Organising Committee, meanwhile, has appointed Jordanian media personnel Menem Fakhoury as general co-ordinator for press conferences during the tournament. He will also oversee interviews that will take place at the specially-allocated "Mix Zone" at the National Stadium and Stadium Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town. Fakhoury is regarded one of the most prominent media representatives in the Arab region and has a remarkable media and sport record. He had previously worked for Jordanian publication Al Rai for nearly 30 years, and chaired its sports department He also conducted many lectures highlighting the media aspects in Jordan and on the continental level. Fakhoury also worked as an observer of international matches in Asia, including the Asian Champions League, the AFC Cup and West Asian Championship. He was declared international instructor by the Asian Football Confederation and attended various training course in sports umpiring in general, as well as other issues on observing football competitions and international seminars for coaches. As part of its hard work to evoke all the success factors in welcoming VIP personnel, the Reception Committee has made visits to the National Stadium to inspect its facilities that underwent significant chances recently. This visit was also witnessed by Stadiums Committee chairman Khalid Al Haj and Transports Committee chairman Ali Al Majed. During the visit, they looked into the main facilities that featured substantial amendments following major construction and renovation works at the stadium in preparation for the upcoming event. The committee representatives also inspected the entry gates as well as parking area allocated for VIPs. The committee members were briefed on the main stand scheme and the distribution of its stands allocated for VIPs and the appropriate mechanism to be taken by the Committee in order to ensure the success of its mission. Elsewhere, the media committee has prepared all arrangements related to the media centres that will be made available at different locations. This came during the committee meeting, chaired by Tawfeeq Al Salhi who was briefed on what have been achieved in this regard. Updates on the committee duties and tasks were presented by Hamad Ali and Jaber Shamsl, as several media personnel in the GCC and Arab region have been invited to attend the tournament.