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The Arab States have tried to form unions of several non-political organizations. Sport has been one of the main activities used to unify Arabs. Several tournaments and games were created to let Arab participate in sports, in an effort to bring the members of the Arab world closer to each other.
The Pan Arab Games were created in 1953 with a grand opening in Alexandria, which hosted the first Games; the games were supposed to take place every four years, like the Olympic Games. Several political problems have made this difficult. The Games included most of the same events as the Olympics. Egypt, with 985 medals over the years, is the leader in medal wins, followed by Syria with 692 medals, then Algeria with 624 medals. Mauritania and Comoros are the only two Arab States that never won a medal in the games.
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In nearly 100 years of Olympic competition, the combined tally of medals won by all Arab countries is 73. At 22 countries, the Arab nations constitute almost 11 per cent of the total number of participating nations (204). However, the average number of medals won - 3.48 medals every four years - has been uninspiring. In the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, for example, Arab countries won only 10 of the 929 medals available - a little over one per cent.
Though the modern version of the Olympic games began in 1896, it was not until 1912 that Arabs appeared on the international sporting scene. Egypt became the first Arab country to send an Olympic delegation - fencer Ahmed Hassanein - to the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. Sixteen years later, Egypt won its first two gold medals, in weightlifting and wrestling, and a silver and bronze in diving at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. Since then it has maintained its competitive edge over other Arab countries and leads the Olympic chart among Arab nations with a total of 23 medals.
In the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Egypt sent the largest Arab delegation of more than 100 athletes competing in handball, field hockey, badminton, synchronised swimming, judo, boxing, taekwondo, athletics, fencing and the pentathlon.
The 1984 Summer Olympics (Los Angeles) marked a watershed moment for Arab athletics when Morocco's Nawal El Moutawakel became the first Arab woman to win a gold medal,[ citation needed ] participating in the 400m hurdles.
Fellow countryman Saïd Aouita also brought home the gold in the 5000m men's marathon. Moroccan talent continued to emerge as Hicham El Guerrouj returned from the 2004 Athens Olympics with two gold medals in the 1500m and 5000m races. Morocco is second to Egypt with 19 Olympic medals.
Four African and four Asian members of the Arab League have qualified to the FIFA World Cup. Morocco advanced to the Semi Finals in 2022.
The Union of Arab Football Associations, established in 1974, organizes the Arab Nations Cup and UAFA Club Championship.
African members of the Arab League have hosted 12 editions of the Africa Cup of Nations, with another scheduled for 2017:
Meanwhile, Asian members of the Arab League have hosted five editions of the AFC Asian Cup:
The 2022 FIFA World Cup was held in Qatar. 2021 FIFA Arab Cup was also held in Qatar as a prelude to the World Cup. [2]
The 2030 FIFA World Cup is set to be held in Morocco. [3]
The Algeria men's national football team represents Algeria in men's international football and is governed by the Algerian Football Federation. The team plays their home matches at the 5 July Stadium in Algiers and Miloud Hadefi Stadium in Oran. Algeria joined FIFA on 1 January 1964, a year and a half after gaining independence. They are the current champions of the FIFA Arab Cup.
The Tunisia national football team represents Tunisia in men's international association football. The team is a member of both FIFA and CAF, the Confederation of African Football. It is governed by the Tunisian Football Federation, founded in 1957. Colloquially known as the Eagles of Carthage, the team's colours are red and white, and the bald eagle is its symbol. Most of Tunisia's home matches are played at the Hammadi Agrebi Stadium in Radès since 2001. Jalel Kadri has been coaching the team since 30 January 2022.
The Saudi Arabia national football team represents Saudi Arabia in men's international football. They are known as Al-Suqour Al-Khodhur in reference to their traditional colours of green and white and represent both FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
The Libya national football team represents Libya in men's international association football and it is controlled by the Libyan Football Federation. The team has never qualified for FIFA World Cups in history but has qualified for three Africa Cup of Nations: 1982, 2006, and 2012. In 1982, the team was both the host and runner-up. In the Arab Cup, Libya finished second in 1964 and 2012, and third in 1966. The team is affiliated with both FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The Qatar national football team nicknamed The Maroons, represents Qatar in international football, and is controlled by the Qatar Football Association and AFC. They play their home games at Khalifa International Stadium and Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium. The latter is considered the home stadium. Qatar is a member of both the FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
Khalifa International Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Al Rayyan, Qatar, around 9 kilometres west from the centre of Doha. Its ground comprises a running track and a grass pitch. Opened in 1976, the stadium was named after then-Emir of Qatar Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, and under the ownership of the Qatar Football Association, it serves as the primary home ground of the Qatar men's national football team. Its current fully-roofed, 45,857-seat configuration was opened in 2017, following a previous reconfiguration in 2005 that incorporated the stadium into the Aspire Zone complex and added a roofed grandstand; boosting its capacity from 20,000 to 40,000.
The 3rd All-Africa Games – Algiers 1978 was a multi-sport event played from July 13, 1978, to July 28, 1978, in Algiers, Algeria. 45 countries from 49 independent African countries participated in twelve sports.
The Arab Games, formerly 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 first competed in 1985.
Eighteen countries have been FIFA World Cup hosts in the competition's twenty-one tournaments since the inaugural World Cup in 1930. The organization at first awarded hosting to countries at meetings of FIFA's congress. The choice of location was controversial in the earliest tournaments, given the three-week boat journey between South America and Europe, the two centers of strength in football at the time.
The Qatar Football Association is the governing body of football in Qatar. The QFA was founded in 1960 and is based in Doha, Qatar. It became a member of FIFA in 1963 and of AFC in 1967. The Qatar Football Association organizes the main leagues of the Qatar football league system: Qatar Stars League, Qatari Second Division, including domestic cups: Qatar Cup, Emir of Qatar Cup, Sheikh Jassim Cup, Qatari Stars Cup and Qatar FA Cup. The association is also responsible for the men's, U-17, U-20, U-23, women's national teams and the local women's, youth and futsal football leagues.
Sports in Morocco refers to the sports played in the Kingdom of Morocco. As of 2007, Moroccan society participated in many sports, including handball, football, golf, tennis, basketball, and athletics. Hicham El Guerrouj, a retired middle distance runner for Morocco, won two gold medals for Morocco at the Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Doha, the capital city of Qatar, bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. It was one of two cities in the Arab World, along with Cairo, Egypt to mount a serious bid.
The 2011 Arab Games also known as the 12th Arab Games took place in Doha, Qatar from 6 to 23 December 2011. This was the first time that the country had hosted the multi-sport event. Khalifa International Stadium was the main venue for the competition.
Sport in Qatar is primarily centred on football in terms of participation and spectators. Additionally, athletics, basketball, handball, volleyball, camel racing, horse racing, cricket and swimming are also widely practised. There are currently eleven multi-sports clubs in the country, and seven single-sports clubs.
At the 2004 Pan Arab Games, the athletics events were held at the Stade 5 Juillet 1962 in Algiers, Algeria from 4 to 8 October. A total of 45 events were contested, of which 23 by male and 22 by female athletes. The host country topped the medal table having won a 16 gold medals and 34 medals overall. Second placed Morocco, with seven golds, had the greatest number of medals overall with a total of 35. Tunisia was third with sixteen medals in total, seven of which were gold. Eleven new Games records were set over the course of the five-day competition.
At the 2011 Pan Arab Games, the athletics events are currently being held at Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar from 15 to 20 December. A total of 45 events are to be contested, comprising 23 men's events and 22 for female athletes. The track and field events took place within the stadium while the half marathon was contested on a specially-designed course around the Aspire Zone. The shorter track events have a two-round format with qualifying heats and a final race, while the long-distance races and throwing events are contested in a straight final format with no qualifying rounds. In addition to the elite level programme, a total of 30 para-athletics events were contested between athletes with a disability on 21 and 22 December, comprising 25 men's events and five women's events.
Anouar Ayed is a Tunisian handball player. He was born in Moknine, Monastir. He has represented Tunisia at two Olympic Games: 2000 Sidney Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics, where the Tunisian team reached the quarter-finals.
Since the AFC Asian Cup was founded in 1956, Qatar has participated in 10 Asian Cups between 1980 and 2019. However, prior to the 2019 edition, Qatar only reached the quarter-finals twice: in 2000 as one of the two best third-place teams when the tournament had only 12 nations competing, and in 2011, when they finished second in Group A behind Uzbekistan.
The Morocco–Portugal–Spain 2030 FIFA World Cup bid, is a joint intended bid by Morocco, Portugal and Spain to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup. The bid was first announced by the football federations of the first two countries on 7 October 2020, with Morocco joining on 14 March 2023. On October 4, 2023, Spain, Portugal and Morocco were chosen as the host countries for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.