Date - 9/3/2010
Description - Sohar will be centre of sporting attention when the 29th GCC Clubs Volleyball Championship comes to the Sultanate’s fast growing port city tomorrow.
The March 11 to 17 event will see history being created for two reasons, it is for the first time an international tournament of regional importance, hosted in Oman, is being organised outside the capital city of Muscat and secondly it is for the first time a local team, in this case Sohar Club, is playing host with little financial support either from the government or the parent association.
Instead, Sohar Club are generating their own funds through sponsorship and marketing for this championship with an estimated overall cost of RO 100,000 to RO 120,000. “We have taken up this challenge because we are sure of succeeding in our endeavour,” said a confident-looking Sohar Club Chairman Dawood al Shizawi.
Speaking at a press conference organised at the Majan Hotel yesterday to brief the local media about the event, he said: “We are proud to say this will be the first international tournament to be hosted outside Muscat and Sohar Club are ready for this challenge.”
Speaking in the presence of Oman Volleyball Association (OVA) General Secretary Mohammed Hamad al Shuaili and Treasurer Badr Salim al Busaidy, he said: “We have also accepted the challenge of hosting this event without the financial support of the Oman Volleyball Association. And I am delighted to say that we are on right path in achieving our goal.” “By hosting a successful tournament, we want to set an example for the other Omani clubs.
I hope, with the backing of their respective associations and support of private sector organisations, more and more clubs will come forward to host such important events, not just volleyball but in other disciplines as well, outside Muscat.” Asked to give further details, Al Shizawi said: “The tournament will cost between RO 100,000 and RO 120,000. And we are prepared for this costly affair.
“We have already roped in several sponsors and we will be signing the deal later today (Monday night). We have also sold the telecast rights of the matches to several TV channels including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait sports channels. The matches will also be shown on Oman TV 2.” He also revealed how they agreed to change the team hotel after demands from the participating teams.
“Initially we selected one of the local hotels as the team hotel for the championship. But a couple of teams had some objections and we have now chosen Crowne Plaza, Sohar. We are going to spend double the amount than we had initially set aside for this purpose. But we have accepted this challenge as well, as we want to the participating teams to enjoy the Omani hospitality and we want them to have a happy stay,” said the former captain of Sohar football team.
All the participating teams, who are expected to start arriving today, will stay at the Crowne Plaza. The hosts have also decided to price the entry tickets at 500 baisas. “We are charging a nominal fee. Each day the fans will be able to watch three matches for just 500 baisas. We are confident the fans will throng the stadium as volleyball is a very popular sport in Sohar.”
OVA General Secretary Mohammed al Shuaili said the entire gate collection will go to the club. “Not just the gate money and all the money generated through sponsorship, marketing and telecast rights will go to Sohar Club and the association is not going to get any share,” he said. The OVA official also said the Ministry of Education will be involved with a brief opening ceremony planned on March 11. “Kuwait Volleyball Association chief Kamaluddin Ayubi and his UAE counterpart Omar Ali will be the guests of honour,” he said.
Later, speaking about Sohar team’s preparations for the championship, Al Shizawi said: “The team has been preparing well for the tournament. We had several external training camps. Recently the team trained in the UAE, where they have played about eight practice matches against strong teams. The entire team is positively looking forward for the championship.”
Sohar chairman though was not ready to reveal his squad list, he said: “We will be announcing our team very soon. We have injured players and we have to wait and see how they recover before finalising the team,” he said. The team has one foreign recruit in the form of Jordan international Mohammed Rashad. The other teams taking part in the tournament are Al Nasr (UAE), Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia), Al Muharraq (Bahrain), Al Qadsiya (Kuwait) and Al Arabi (Qatar). The matches will be played in round-robin format.
Teams: Sohar (Oman), Al Nasr (UAE), Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia), Al Muharraq (Bahrain), Al Qadsiya (Kuwait), Al Arabi (Qatar).
FIXTURES
March 11: Al Hilal vs Al Muharraq 3.00 pm; Al Qadsiya vs Al Arabi 5.00 pm; Sohar vs Al Nasr. March 12: Al Qadsiya vs Al Nasr 3.00 pm; Al Muharraq vs Al Arabi 5.00 pm; Sohar vs Al Hilal 7.00 pm. March 14: Al Qadsiya vs Al Hilal 3.00 pm; Al Nasr vs Al Arabi 5.00 pm; Sohar vs Al Muharraq 7.00 pm. March 15: Al Hilal vs Al Arabi 3.00 pm; Al Muharraq vs Al Nasr 5.00 pm; Sohar vs Al Qadsiya 7.0 pm. March 17: Al Hilal vs Al Nasr 3.00 pm; Al Qadsiya vs Al Muharraq 5.00 pm; Al Arabi vs Sohar 7.00 pm.
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