Kuwait City, Kuwait, May 26, 2022: Sheikha Hayat Bint Abdulaziz Al-Khalifa, the Chair of the Olympic Council of Asia’s Gender Equity Committee, has praised the Gulf Cooperation Council Games hierarchy for taking the bold decision to include women athletes in all sports at future multi-sport events including the 4th Gulf Games in Qatar in 2026.
“I’m very thankful for the GCC executive committee for deciding that the next Gulf Games will have women athletes competing in every sport.
This is a wonderful development for women in sport in the Gulf,” applauded Sheikha Hayat.
The Secretary Generals of the six GCC nations taking part in the ongoing 3rd Gulf Games in Kuwait, decided earlier this week that women will compete in all sports at future multi-sports events starting with the 1st GCC Youth Games to be held in the United Arab Emirates in 2023, and leading up to the Gulf Games in Qatar four years from now.
“We will be working closely with all the National Olympic Committees in the region to develop women’s sports. This move will help the region be on par with the thinking of the International Olympic Committee. At the Olympic Games, every sport is represented by male and female athletes,” Sheikha Hayat pointed out.
The next three major multi-sports Games in the GCC region, leading up to the 4th Gulf Games in 2026, will also feature female athletes in all sports. They are the Youth Games in UAE in 2023, the Indoor Martial Arts in Saudi Arabia in 2024, and the Beach Games in Oman in 2025.
Women are competing for the first time at the Kuwait 2022 showpiece, albeit in only six of the 16 sports. They are athletics, basketball (3x3), cycling, futsal, esports and padel.
All six countries participating – Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and hosts Kuwait – have included female athletes in their delegations.
Sheikha Hayat has been one of the prime movers working dedicatedly behind the scenes pushing for female athletes’ representation at these Games.
“I’m very thankful for the support I have received from all the six countries as well as the Olympic Council of Asia. We are moving in the right direction,” she added.