Baghdad, Iraq, August 25, 2024: The President of the National Olympic Committee of Iraq, Dr. Aqeel Muftin, was on hand to bid farewell to an NOC delegation that left on a tour of cities in Iraq on Saturday, August 24.
The NOC delegation, led by NOC Secretary General Haitham Abdul Hameed and accompanied by visiting international sports expert Ignasi Fabregas from Spain, stopped first at Sulaymaniyah, one of the cities that will host the West Asian Youth Games in April 2025.
Fabregas' goal is to put in place a blueprint to identify young sporting talent with an eye on winning medals at the LA28 and Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games.
The NOC delegation visited sporting facilities in Sulaymaniyah as well as accommodation venues and was given a first-hand picture of the ground view in the city.
Among the facilities visited were the women’s venue for basketball, the table tennis centre, boxing and gymnastics.
This is the first visit by the NOC to a city which will host next year’s multi-sports West Asian competition with visits to Basra and Erbil also in the pipeline. Basra will host athletics and Erbil will host judo and weightlifting.
The capital Baghdad is set to host six sports.
