Erbil: The host city of sports t ournaments - Kurdish Globe

The Kurdish Globe
No. 276, Saturday, October 09, 2010 15
Erbil: The host city of sports tournaments
The Kurdish capital city proudly shows the region what it’s capable of
Drawn to its beauty
and—more
importantly—its
ability to ensure the
safety and security
of players and
spectators,
organizers are
making Erbil their
top location
for sports
championships.
Over the last decade,
Iraq has been deprived
of hosting international
sports tournaments bece
cause of inadequate sece
curity for players and
spectators alike. So many
times, Iraqi sports fede
erations presented official
letters to the Asian and
Arab confederations askie
ing to host competitions.
But all requests were reje
jected due to the constant
fear outside athletes had
to come to Iraq. Internate
tional high-ranking sports
officials thought Iraq was
too dangerous to host any
sports event at all.
Unlike before, there are
many Kurdish athletes
managing crucial sports
offices in Iraqi sports fede
erations. They have serioe
ously attempted to explain
to outside officials that
Iraq has an autonomous
region called Kurdistan
whose security conditions
meet all requirements
to hold safe and secure
sports competitions.
Over the last two weeks
alone, the Kurdish capital
city of Erbil honorably
hosted two championse
ships organized for seve
eral Arab national teams.
Last week, the Arab
weightlifting championse
ship was held at the Blue
Sports Center, which has
excellent sports halls and
has hosted other sports
competitions successfully
in the past.
Participating counte
GLOBE PHOTO / Safin Hamed
Arab Weightlifting Championship winners take the stage after getting their medals in Erbil on October 5.
tries included Iraq, the
hosts, United Arab Emirae
ates, Lebanon, Palestine,
Syria, Morocco, Algeria,
Jordan, Sudan, and Bahre
rain. Egypt, Yemen, and
Somalia also sent their
representatives to observe
the events.
“The Arab athletes
were pretty much excited
about the beauty of Erbil
city. They had nothing
to say except they kept
talking about the picture
esque views and good
security conditions of the
city. They did not expect
Kurdistan to be so safe
and attractive. Their satie
isfaction really matters to
us,” stated Tahir Khoshne
naw, Iraqi Weightlifting
Federation (IWF) membe
ber.
Khoshnaw said the dele
egations enjoyed seeing
some beautiful Erbil loce
cations, but due to the
competition they did not
get to see as much as they
wanted to. “Since the dele
egations did not leave the
region right after the tourne
nament, we took them to
Shaqlawa, a resort city,
and showed them historice
cal places where sightsee
ers usually gather.”
Meanwhile, Akad
Sports Hall, which is loce
cated in the Christian
town of Ankawa in Erbil,
hosted the Arab badminte
ton competition with the
participation of seven
Arab countries. The tourne
nament kicked off last
Saturday and lasted three
days. Pishtiwan Majeed,
Iraqi Badminton Federate
tion (IBF) president, is a
Kurd from Erbil and leads
the federation as a loyal
athlete elected by IBF
members. His main conce
cern was trying hard to
convince Arab and Asian
sports confederations that
Kurdistan in general and
the capital city in particule
lar is secure enough to
hold international matche
es.
“I have continuously
tried to bring matches
to Erbil so that people
from outside could see
for themselves how wellprepared
Kurdistan is for
embracing any sporting
event. We always wanted
to prove ourselves practe
tically instead of talking
about our capabilities
theoretically,” explained
Majeed.
Majeed said he heard
from participating team
members that they have
never witnessed bette
ter organized badminte
ton tournaments than
Erbil’s throughout the
Arab championship histe
tory. “Unfortunately, the
teams’ members were told
in the past that Kurdistan
is not suitable to play in.
But our good treatment of
them last week--especialle
ly when we received them
at the airport--made them
feel as comfortable as if
they were in their homete
town,” Majeed noted.
From Majeed’s perspecte
tive, the results of the
matches were not as signe
nificant as Kurdistan beie
ing seen as it should be
by people from outside.
“From now on I am sure
the teams, upon return to
their countries, will have
a different viewpoint towe
ward Kurdistan and will
talk about the region in a
good way.”
Majeed is one the very
first people in Iraq who
played badminton, and
he used to be one of the
greatest Iraqi national
team stars. Two years
ago he earned most of the
votes of his federation
members and become the
first Kurdish man to lead
IBF. He claimed to have
a strong relationship with
his counterparts in other
countries, but he compe
plained that he was kept
waiting at reception to
see Iraqi government offe
ficials.
In addition to being succe
cessful in organizing the
competition, Kurdistan
was more honored to have
Yara Ahmed, who placed
first in men’s singles
badminton. Ahmed was
pleased with his results
and regarded winning as
a historical achievement
for not only him, but for
all Kurdish and Iraqi peope
ple.
The two championse
ships, weightlifting and
badminton, at the Arab
levels, may be followed
by another great event—
the Asian weightlifting
championship—which
might be held in Erbil in
2011.
In a press conference
held at the Hawler Plaza
hotel in Erbil city, Ali
Murad, Asian Weightliftie
ing Confederation (AWC)
president, disclosed that
Erbil is capable of hosting
the 2011 Asian weightliftie
ing Championship. “I am
really happy with all the
smiling faces I see in this
city. The sports officials
in this region look like
they are active in their
work; that is why I like
to cooperate with them so
that the game can reach
its peak, and the players-
-both male and female--
can compete internationae
ally,” stated Murad.
According to Murad, it
is in AWC’s program to
bring the Asian weightle
lifting teams to Erbil for
the 2011 Asian Weightle
lifting events. Arrangie
ing continuous training
courses will be another
issue AWC must work
on. Murad, just like Arab
sports officials, confirmed
that Erbil is appropriate in
every respect--especially
in its security condition--
to host the Asian champioe
onships.
Zakaria Muhammed
Erbil
zakaria.kurdishglobe
@gmail.com
Erbil FC chasing
European players
Erbil FC coach Ayoub Adisho disclosed that his club,
after signing several Arab players, wants to sign some
European footballers to the squad for the coming Iraqi
football league season, which is scheduled to start in
November. “The club officials already agreed to test
some players from Serbia, Ukraine, and Romania befe
fore signing any other contracts,” said Adisho, adding
that the team lacks new players to strengthen midfield
and striking lines.
Erbil governor awards
Iraqi cycling champions
On October 6, Erbil Governor Nawzad Hadi received
the Erbil cycling team in his office and awarded them
with valuable gifts for winning the Iraqi cycling champe
pionship a few weeks ago. Governor Hadi expressed his
appreciation for their achievements, and asked Kurdie
ish sports officials to pay better attention to the single
games like cycling since Kurdistan constitute most of
the Iraqi national teams in single games. “I like to suppe
port this game and its players, and I hope to see greater
achievements from Kurdish cyclists,” Hadi said.
Iraq places first at Arab
weightlifting championship
In the last round of the Arab weightlifting championship
hosted in Erbil city last week, Iraqi senior and junior
weightlifters--after winning 18 gold medals--became the
champions after gaining 687 points. United Arab Emirae
ates placed second with 518 points, while Morocco took
third with 451. Kurdish weightlifters played a significant
role in adding several medals for the Iraq national team.
Sirwan Karzan won three gold medals in the 94-kg cate
egory; Karzan Mariwan also won three other medals in
105-kg category.