ShareKUWAIT: The head of the Hospitality and Hotels Committee of the “Khaleeji Zain 26” tournament Athari Al-Balushi revealed the allocation of 6 hotels to host Kuwait’s guests and delegations participating in the tournament, which starts next Saturday evening and continues until January 3, 2025.
Al-Balushi stated that the committee developed a time plan, during which it carried out several inspection visits to the selected hotels; to see the latest preparations well before the arrival of Kuwait’s guests, and to fulfill all the requirements of the Arabian Gulf Cup Football Federation.
Al-Balushi said, “Members of the Hospitality and Hotels Committee will be present in all hotels throughout the days of the tournament to facilitate entry and exit procedures, and to fulfill all the requirements of the delegations, and the committee has provided VIP services for VIPs in Jaber Al-Ahmad and Jaber Al-Mubarak Stadiums, media professionals, referees, match observers, medical staff, and the doping committee.”
Al-Balushi praised the great cooperation, positive interaction and joint coordination between the various committees working in the tournament, to overcome the obstacles facing them, to ensure the highest levels of success, in implementation of the noble directives of the political leadership, and the follow-up of the Minister of Information and Culture, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Chairman of the Supreme Organizing Committee for the tournament, Abdulrahman Al-Mutairi, to bring out the tournament in a civilized form that befits the name of Kuwait.
Serbian coach Goran Tovaric recalled the most important achievement in his coaching career when he led the Blue team to win the “Gulf 20” title in Yemen in 2010, and said: “I am very proud of the Gulf title with the Kuwaiti national team, which is the best in my coaching career, especially since it came after a long work that extended for several years, and it came after the Blue had been away from the podiums.”
The Serbian coach previously worked in the technical staff of the Blue before winning the Gulf Cup in Yemen, where he worked as an assistant to national coach Mohammed Ibrahim in “Gulf 19” in 2009 in the Omani capital Muscat, and completed his mission with the national team after winning the tenth Gulf title, to obtain third place in “Gulf 21” in Bahrain.
Goran, who is currently coaching the UAE’s Al Wahda club, said, “I consider myself one of the lucky coaches who had the opportunity to be in one of the Gulf championships, and I have worked in several countries, but the experience of working in Kuwait remains a special privilege for me and my family; after we received great support and love from the Kuwaiti fans who love their national team.
On his expectations for the “Gulf Zain 26” tournament, the 53-year-old coach said, “Like all tournaments, it does not recognize a prior logic or technical differences, and remains its very own calculations, and any team can achieve its title,” hoping that the Blue will win the title, even if it will deprive him of being the last coach to achieve the title for Kuwaiti football, and expressed his confidence in Kuwait’s success in organizing an ideal tournament, given its possession of all specialized administrative and technical cadres with experiences and abilities to ensure the success of the largest sporting events.
For his part, the famous Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Pereira considered that the Gulf tournaments are a special case for the region, and a great challenge for everyone, and the coach who made his history with the Blue said: “The competition was most intense in the Gulf tournaments during the era I worked in Kuwait and the region, and that great competition was behind the emergence of many stars in most of the Gulf teams.
Pereira emphasized that he has achieved many titles at the international level, “but the Gulf tournaments have special calculations and great importance, and I believe that my experience in the Gulf Cup is good, although I got second place twice with the Kuwaiti and Emirati national teams.
