By Abdellatif Sharaa

KUWAIT: Kuwait Cricket Club and Friendi mobile officially launched their partnership at an event held at the Olympic Council of Asia in the presence of senior officials from both sides. "It is a great day for us as we are starting our future events for the coming season with a new partner Friendi, which will join us all the way for the next season. We will experience each other and will know exactly where we stand, as we both work for the interest of cricket," Chairman of KCC Haidar Farman said.

Farman announced there will be a meeting for building a new venue and new grounds for Kuwait cricket. "With Friendi being with us, I do not think Kuwait cricket will be the same from today onwards. All what we are doing is in the interest of our players, not only for the national team, but for the 140 teams who are members of KCC," he said.

Friendi CEO Benoit Janin congratulated the Kuwait national cricket team on their win over UAE. "We are here to celebrate to launch the partnership between Friendi and KCC. Friendi is a brand already in the region, in Oman and Saudi Arabia, and have over 2 million customers. We are all excited about this partnership and hope to go further on new levels," he said.  KCC Director General Shahid Ashraf said Kuwait Cricket Club is the sole official governing body for the game of cricket in Kuwait, affiliated with the Public Authority for Sport, Kuwait Olympic Committee, International Cricket Council and Asian Cricket Council.

KUWAIT: Kuwait Cricket Club and Friendi mobile officials pose for a group photo.

He said Kuwait men's team is currently ranked 25th in the ICC T20 out of 104 countries, adding that ICC will have 20 teams participating in the world cup that will take place in the West Indies and US. Shahid Ashraf said Kuwait men's team for the first time beat UAE, which is ranked 12th in the ICC T20 rankings, in the final leg of Asia qualifiers recently, and this will help improve their ranking. "With this partnership, all events will be named after Friendi mobile. The entire international calendar year all events will be branded as Friendi," Ashraf said.

Speaking exclusively to Kuwait Times, Farman said a Kuwaiti team played in two Asian Games in Guangzhou 2010 and Incheon 2014, but in 2018 the game was not included. In 2022, Kuwait Olympic Committee did not think that there is the possibility of positive participation in the games. "We think otherwise. This hurt the Kuwait team spirit that longed for participating in the Asian Games," he said.

Farman said this took place while the game is developing and reached an advanced stage. "We suddenly received an unfavorable answer from Kuwait Olympic Committee for not participating, and this is not in the interest of the game. We hope KOC reconsiders future participations, because it is a game that has proved itself," he said.

Farman said cricket began in Kuwait with a committee at KOC in 1998, then in 2009 the KCC was approved by the Public Authority for Sport as a specialized club. "This recognition gave us a strong push to take our role to new levels as far as work and development are concerned, and we are looking to establish an academy to care of young players. We are in the development stage, as Kuwait can reach at highly advanced levels, but the game requires much investment and work with a team spirit to fulfill the plan," he added.