Pan Arab Games

Arab Games
الألعاب العربية

Arab Games logo
First event 1953 Egypt Alexandria
Occur every Four years
Last event 2011 Qatar Doha
Purpose Multi-sport event for nations in the Arab world.
Organization UANOC

The Arab Games (Arabic: الألعاب العربية‎‎) also called the Pan Arab Games are a regional multi-sport event held between nations from the Arab world. They are organized by the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees. The first Games took place in 1953 in Alexandria, Egypt. Intended to be held every four years since, political turmoil as well as financial difficulties have made the event an unstable one. Women were first allowed to compete in 1985.

History

The Arab Games were the brainchild of Abdul Rahman Hassan Azzam, the first General Secretary of the Arab League (1945–1952). In 1947, Azzam submitted a memorandum to the League, advocating a multi-sport tournament which involved the participation of all Arab countries.

According to Azzam, sport serves as the best way to connect the youth of Arab countries and enable them to build the future of the Arab identity. As a common favorite of young individuals, sports tournaments encourage them to reach out across boundaries, bond with fellow Arabs, and eliminate differences among them. In the same vein, Azzam announced that the youth of the larger Arab nation is eager to gather all the dispersed Arab sports in an annual tournament which will be held in one of the Arab cities.

However, the Arab Games tournament did not gain official approval until 1953, when Ahmed El Demerdash Touny, an Egyptian national and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), managed to convince the concerned parties within the Arab League that an Arab Games tournament would be instrumental to the overall success of the Arab identity. In response to Touny’s proposal, the Arab League agreed on establishing the Arab Games, making Egypt the first country to organise an Arab Games tournament, which was held in the city of Alexandria from July 26, – August 10, 1953. Eight Arab nations and Indonesia competed in the first Arab Games tournament.

The 2011 Games started in Doha on December 9 with the Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani inaugurating the event at the Khalifa International Stadium.[1]

Complications

Typically the games are to take place every four years; however, the last Arab Games were held in 2011 and because of the recent events in the Middle East the games have been postponed with no set date in sight. Initially Lebanon was set to host the 2015 XIII Pan Arab Games, but "withdrew because of the crisis in the Middle East". [2] Following Beirut's withdrawal Morocco was then chosen to host the games, but faced financial complications and also withdrew. "Mohamed Ouzzine, Morocco's Minister of Youth and Sports [at the time, wrote to] the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees (UANOC) telling them that they would be withdrawing." [3]

The same year, Egypt volunteered to host the event. "Sheikh Khalid Al Zubair, chairman of the Oman Olympic Committee (OOC)" said, ""We will be offering our full support to Egypt and we have also taken a decision to suspend the financial regulations and other requirements due to lack of time.". [4] Had the UANOC accepted Egypt's proposition the games would have taken place in December 2015; however, no such event was held and there have been no formal statements made in regards to the possibility of future games.

Because of the current events in the Middle East there is no telling when the next Arab Games will take place or what country may host the games. If the UANOC keeps the same schedule for holding the games every four years the next games could possibly take place in 2019 with an entirely new host country and no reference to the mishap of the 2015 Arab Games.

Editions

Host cities of the Pan Arab Games
Year Games Host Nation Host City Dates Nations Competitors Sports Events Top Country On Medal Table
Men Women Total
1953 I  Egypt Alexandria July 26 – August 10 9 650 — 650 10  Egypt
1957 II  Lebanon Beirut October 13 – 27 10 914 — 914 12  Lebanon
1961 III  Morocco Casablanca August 24 – September 8 9 1127 — 1127 11  United Arab Republic*
1965 IV  United Arab Republic Cairo September 2 – 14 14 1500 — 1500 13  United Arab Republic**
1976 V  Syria Damascus October 6 – 21 11 2174 — 2174 18  Syria
1985 VI  Morocco Rabat August 24 – September 8 17 3442 18  Morocco
1992 VII  Syria Damascus September 4 – 18 18 2611 14  Syria
1997 VIII  Lebanon Beirut July 13 – 27 18 3253 22  Egypt
1999 IX  Jordan Amman August 15 – 31 21 5504 26  Egypt
2004 X  Algeria Algiers September 24 – October 10 22 5525 32  Algeria
2007 XI  Egypt Cairo November 11 – 26 22 6000 32  Egypt
2011 XII  Qatar Doha December 9 – 23[5] 21 6000 33  Egypt

Sports

36 sports were presented in the Pan Arab Games history.

Sport Years
Athletics () since 1953
Badminton () since 1999
Basketball () since 1953
Bodybuilding () since 1999
Boxing () since 1953
Bowling () since 2007
Bridge () since 1999
Camel riding () since 2007
Chess () since 1999
Cycling () since 1957
Diving () since ....
Sport Years
Equestrian () since 1957
Fencing () since 1953
Football () since 1953
Golf () since 1985
Gymnastics () since 1953
Handball () since 1961
Judo () since 1976
Karate () since 1976
Kick boxing () since 1999
Modern pentathlon () since 2007
Rowing () since 1957
Sport Years
Sailing () since 1985
Shooting () since 1953
Squash () since 1999
Swimming () since 1953
Table tennis () since 1976
Taekwondo () since 1997
Tennis () since 1961
Volleyball () since 1957
Water polo () since 1961
Weightlifting () since 1953
Wrestling () since 1953

All-time medal table

Below is the medal table of the Arab Games tournaments, up until the 12th tournament 2011.

 Rank  Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  Egypt 542 409 348 1299
2  Syria 279 228 282 789
3  Tunisia 257 210 274 741
4  Morocco 255 220 257 732
5  Algeria 217 253 290 760
6  United Arab Republic* 127 24 54 205
7  Lebanon 78 119 123 320
8  Iraq 77 116 151 344
9  Qatar 65 72 85 222
10  Jordan 63 96 79 238
11  Saudi Arabia 55 85 115 255
12  United Arab Emirates 26 29 42 97
13  Bahrain 23 24 39 86
14  Kuwait 20 23 46 89
15  Libya 18 26 42 86
16  Sudan 16 35 29 80
17  Oman 14 14 22 50
18  Palestine 5 29 60 94
19  Yemen** 5 7 15 27
20  Djibouti 1 2 1 4
21  Somalia 0 4 1 5
22  Comoros 0 0 0 0
 Mauritania 0 0 0 0
** Yemen including North Yemen and South Yemen.

See also

References

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