Gulf Cup moved to Kuwait

DOHA: Gulf Cup organisers will officially announce early next week that the tournament will be played in Kuwait not Qatar after overcoming political and administrative obstacles, a senior official said Saturday.

“We will officially announce it on Monday (December 11),” said Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation general secretary Jassim al-Rumaihi.The Gulf Cup has been plagued by problems. It was originally scheduled to take place in Kuwait last year, but that country’s football association was suspended by FIFA in October 2015 over alleged government meddling in sports. After Kuwait’s suspension, the tournament was switched to World Cup 2022 host Qatar. That did not solve the problem.

A bitter dispute erupted on June 5 when Qatar was politically and economically isolated by a quartet of neighbouring countries including Saudi Arabi, UAE and Bahrain over alleged support for terrorist groups and Doha’s warming relations with Riyadh’s great regional rival, Shiite-dominated Iran.Earlier this month, FIFA lifted Kuwait’s suspension after the national parliament adopted a law meant to end government interference in the sport. That cleared the way to move the tournament back to its original host.