Iraq officially won the honor of hosting the 25th edition of the Arabian Gulf Football Cup (Gulf 25) unanimously by the presidents of the Gulf federations and secretaries during the General Conference of the championship held in Doha.
It will be the second time Iraq hosts the Gulf Cup after the 1979 edition in Baghdad.
Iraq was scheduled to host Gulf 23 but was withdrawn because of the ban on Iraqi football by the International Federation of the game (FIFA), but after the lifting of the ban is ready to host the tournament.
President of the Iraqi Football Federation Abdul Khaliq Masoud expressed his great satisfaction with the confidence placed by the presidents of the Gulf federations and secretaries in Basra and Iraq to enjoy the honor of hosting, stressing that this is the happiness of all Iraqis without exception.
Massoud considered the victory of Iraq the honor of hosting a great achievement for the Iraqi people in all provinces of Iraq.
Masoud said that the government side represented by the Ministry of Youth and the security side represented by the Ministry of Interior pledged to provide the security side to all teams and the Gulf fans and the exit of the tournament in the best way.
Massoud stressed that the withdrawal of hosting in the past was mainly caused by the ban on Iraqi football, but now the ban has been lifted, and the transfer of games currently in the Asian joint qualifying for the World Cup 2022 and Asian Cup 2023, it is temporary and things will return to the right quorum and Iraq will return to host the matches In the playoffs again.
For his part, the Secretary-General of the Gulf Federation of the game Jassem Al-Rumaihi, that the Iraqi file met all the conditions required for hosting and the General Secretariat of the Union raised its approval to the presidents during the General Conference and the Executive Office approved the decision to grant hosting to Iraq well, hoping that Basra will organize an extraordinary championship and graduate in the best way.
Al-Rumaihi said that if conditions did not allow Iraq to host the tournament, God forbid, any country has the right to submit a file to host and be an alternative to Iraq, according to the file and conform to the criteria and conditions for hosting.