KUWAIT: The Minister of Information and Culture, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Chairman of the Supreme Organizing Committee of the Khaleeji Zain 26 tournament Abdulrahman Al-Mutairi inaugurated this afternoon the main media center for the tournament at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Farwaniya.

The center is equipped with the latest technical means of computers and their attachments, equipped with Internet service, and places dedicated to filming and press interviews to facilitate the task of media professionals who will flock to the country to cover the Gulf football championship, and the center includes a special “diwaniya” for media professionals equipped with a large television screen to follow the events of Khaleeji Zain 26 in addition to a Wi-Fi network, with buses allocated to transport the media from the center to the stadiums. The main media center will host pre-match press conferences, while post-match press conferences will be held at the Jaber International Stadium and Jaber Al-Mubarak Stadium, which will also provide full services for journalists throughout the tournament.

For his part, the head of the Quality Control Committee, Faisal Al-Yateem, stated that: “The Supreme Organizing Committee of the Khaleeji Zain 26 tournament carefully selected a group of working committees to assume responsibility for planning, organization and implementation before and during the tournament, and decided to form a quality control committee to follow up and supervise the work of all committees, and follow up the progress of their work, and the committee submits detailed daily reports to the Supreme Organizing Committee on the progress of the work of the various committees, the extent of what has been achieved, and the accuracy of the work done, and this new administrative approach aims to create a procedural guide and reference to be used in future international championships hosted by Kuwait, as well as its contribution to raising the efficiency of work as a whole”.

Faisal Al-Yateem praised the efforts of the members of all committees under the Supreme Organizing Committee for the tournament, and said: “Everyone works hard and diligently, and we see daily progress in the work, through daily meetings, and the elimination of observations first, to reach the highest readiness before the start of the tournament.”

Regarding the booking of tickets for the tournament’s matches, Al-Yateem pointed out that tickets for all matches are available to everyone without exception, whether through the “Hayyakum” electronic application, or through the official account of the Gulf Football Federation on the social networking site (X) and the official account of the Kuwait Football Association, or through manual reservations at the sales centers located in the “Avenues and 360” complexes. Al-Yateem confirmed that the opening ceremony will be distinctive in all its details, prepared with great care, and fully consistent with the slogan “The Future is Gulf,” adding that cooperation has been made with international companies specialized in organizing celebrations and international sports events for a distinctive opening ceremony for the Khaleeji Zain 26 tournament, and we hope that the ceremony, which will be held next Saturday evening, will win the satisfaction of everyone.

Bahraini team arrives

The Bahraini national team arrived in Kuwait on Wednesday morning to compete in the Khaleeji Zain 26 competitions which starts the day after Saturday and continues until January 3. The delegation headed to its residence at the Jumeirah Hotel, while the team held its first training in the evening at the Mohammed Al-Hamad Stadium at Al-Qadisiyah Club. “The Gulf Championship is very important for us, as it is a sporting gathering that brings together brothers, and it is also a very important regional competition for us, and for the Bahraini sports street, which holds great hopes and ambitions for the team in this tournament,” said Mahmoud Riad, director of the Bahraini national team.

For his part, the media coordinator of the Bahraini team, Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar, said: “We are happy to be in our beloved Kuwait to participate in the tournament that is dear to all of us, and we aspire to achieve the second title after the first, which the Bahraini team won in 2019.”

He added: “The public is thirsty for the second title, and the journey is difficult and the eye is on the matches of the UAE and Iraq, and all matches are difficult and strong, and all teams are ready, as there are 7 teams that are fully prepared, after they started their journey in the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup.” The Bahraini national team will start its participation in the tournament with a strong confrontation against its Saudi counterpart next Sunday evening at Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium, then meet its Iraqi counterpart on December 25, and conclude its journey in the group stage against Yemen on the 28th of the same month.