Rugby union in the Arabian Peninsula is a minor, but growing sport. The game is played in six out of seven countries on the peninsula, specifically the Gulf Cooperation states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The region hosts the annual Dubai Sevens and Dubai Women's Sevens tournaments which are global events on the World Rugby sevens series for men and women.
Rugby was first brought to the region by the British military around the mid-20th century. In addition, some Arabian royals and nobles had been sending their sons to English private schools, where they picked up the game.
The sport was promoted by Commonwealth expatriates working in the oil industry. [1] [2] The Emirs, greatly interested by the phenomenon, provided grounds and financial support. [2] The Dubai Sevens was founded in 1970, [1] [2] and developed into one of the premier rugby sevens tournaments in the world. [1] The Dubai Sevens also encouraged the setting up of a number of Arab teams. [2]
Prior to the end of 2010, rugby in all six Gulf Cooperation countries was administered by a single governing body, the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union (AGRFU). However, the International Rugby Board's governance restructuring project for the West Asia region under the Asian Rugby Football Union dissolved the AGRFU to allow separate national federations to be formed for each member country from 2011 onwards. [3] The unified representative team for the six Gulf states played its final Test match in May 2010, before the split. [4]
The UAE Rugby Federation was formed in 2009 and their national team inherited the former Arabian Gulf team's world ranking, [5] while separate federations in Qatar and Saudi Arabia became the new sports governing bodies for rugby in those countries. [3] Other countries previously under the unified Gulf Rugby umbrella that had not formed national governing bodies – Bahrain, [6] Kuwait and Oman – were assisted by the UAE Rugby Federation in administering cross-border club competitions. [7]
The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council, is a regional, intergovernmental, political, and economic union comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The council's main headquarters is located in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The Charter of the GCC was signed on 25 May 1981, formally establishing the institution.
The United Arab Emirates national football team represents United Arab Emirates in international football and serves under the auspices of the country's Football Association.
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The Arabian Gulf Cup, often referred to simply as the Gulf Cup, is a biennial football competition governed by the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation for its eight member nations. The history of the competition has also seen it held every three to four years due to political or organisational problems. The reigning champions are Iraq, having won their fourth title at the 25th edition, as hosts, held in 2023.
The Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union (AGRFU) was the governing body for rugby union that represented the Gulf Cooperation Council states until the end of 2010. As well as organising local and regional competitions in UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman, the AGRFU administered representative Arabian Gulf rugby teams and hosted the annual Dubai round of the Sevens World Series and 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai.
The Arabian Gulf rugby union team was a combined team of players that represented the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council in international rugby union competitions. The team competed in international matches between 1993 and 2010, and was governed by the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union (AGRFU). Associate members were Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.
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Rugby union in Kuwait is a minor sport.
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The Gulf Ice Hockey Championship, also known as the GCC Gulf Ice Hockey Championships, is an international ice hockey competition involving countries from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. The inaugural tournament took place on May 25 to May 30 in Kuwait City, Kuwait, and was organized by the Kuwait Ice Hockey Association. The championship has featured teams from six countries since its formation and currently consists of Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The United Arab Emirates has won all four editions of the championship, while Kuwait has finished second on three occasions and Qatar on one.
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The United Arab Emirates Sevens team is new to the sevens scene. They previously formed the Arabian Gulf sevens team along with Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia as part of the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union before the IRB disbanded the union.
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The GCC Games is a regional multi-sport event which involves participants from the Gulf Cooperation Council region. The GCC Games, a quadrennial multi-sport event, was established by the union and first held in 2011. There are numerous long-running GCC Championships for individual sports, including: the Gulf Cooperation Council Athletics Championships football, Archery, athletics, Badminton, sailing, basketball, Swimming, Marathon Swimming, Diving, Water Polo, Artistic Swimming, tennis, gymnastics, weightlifting, futsal, snooker, Cycling, Chess and table tennis. The 3rd edition of the game had to be organized in June 2019, but held in 2022 due to the internal issues between the GCC state countries. The 4th edition has been announced and will happen as per the announced dates. For the first time the games will be organized by the new, young and talented faces of GCC team.
The United Arab Emirates Rugby Federation, or UAE Rugby, is the governing body for rugby union in United Arab Emirates. It organises and oversees local rugby, including the annual Dubai Sevens and Dubai Women's Sevens. It became affiliated to World Rugby and Asia Rugby in 2012 as a full status member.
The 2022 GCC Women's Gulf Cup was a women's T20I cricket (WT20I) tournament played in Oman from 20 to 26 March 2022. Organised by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the tournament featured the women's national teams of Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. Bahrain and Saudi Arabia played their first official WT20I matches during this tournament.
The 2023 Men's Gulf T20I Championship was a Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket tournament that took place in Qatar in September 2023. The participating teams in the inaugural edition of the Gulf Championship were the hosts Qatar along with Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. All of the matches were played at the West End Park International Cricket Stadium in Doha. The top two sides in the round-robin advanced to the final.
