Restaurant owners and taxi drivers refused to take the fare from the tournament guests

Journalists: The Iraqi people charmed us with their generosity, and we did not feel alienated in "Gulf 25"

• The Iraqi public played a major role in the success of "Gulf 25".

  From the source

picture

Journalists and media professionals working for Emirati media outlets who covered the Arab Gulf Cup Championship "Gulf 25", which concluded last Thursday in the Iraqi city of Basra and crowned by the Iraqi national team, said that they found "exceptional" treatment during their coverage of the tournament, and that the Iraqi people charmed them with their overflowing generosity. Stories like fiction about the generosity of the Iraqi people and their good treatment of guests, to the extent that some of them indicated that when he visited a restaurant to eat some meals or used a taxi, the owners of these restaurants and taxi drivers refused to take the fare from them under the pretext that they were guests of Iraq, pointing out that the large public attendance In the stands behind the unprecedented success of the tournament, despite the fact that the technical level was average due to the participation of most of the teams with second-row or reserve players.

And they added to "Emirates Today": "We thought that Hatim Al-Taie, with his generosity, was one man, but we found him as an entire people represented by the people of Iraq."

Al-Bayan newspaper journalist Al-Awadi Al-Nimr said: “For me, as a journalist who covered the tournament, I did not feel alienated in a hospitable country like Iraq, whose people are distinguished by extra generosity, and all the procedures for our presence to cover the tournament were easy, from arrival until the date of departure. To support his team and attend with a density that exceeds the capacity of the stands of Basra Stadium, and he also filled the stands of Al-Mina Stadium, which hosts the teams of the second group, in a phenomenon that occurs for the first time.

Al-Nimr continued, "In terms of the technical level of the tournament, it was average, with the participation of most of the teams in the second row and the young players. We did not see a good level except in the two matches between Bahrain and Oman in the semi-finals, and Iraq with Oman in the final."

And he continued: "The most prominent observations were the keenness of the organizing committee to overcome the difficulties first-hand due to the influx of fans to the Basra Stadium."

Hassan Habib, a journalist and broadcaster on Dubai Sports Channel, confirmed that the most prominent slogan they found in Iraq during the Gulf championship was that they "thought that Hatim Al-Taei was only one man, but they found him as an entire people in Iraq, as they sensed spontaneous generosity in them."

Hassan Habib added, "Any Iraqi person, when we meet him, insists that we go with him to his house in order to honor us. Even a simple worker who sells simple things refuses to take money from us, and these things were very impressive."

Hassan Habib indicated that in terms of the audience, the Basra stadium needed to expand by three or four additional floors in order to accommodate this large number of fans, noting that even the elderly and children were keen to attend the stadium long hours before the start of the match as evidence of their passion for football. And their eagerness to see their Gulf brothers.

Hassan Habib concluded, “One of the very moving things for me was when I visited the Iraqi Colonel Alaa Al-Eidani at his house, and he was telling the story of his loss of sight in the battle to liberate Mosul.” Noting that Al-Eidani had raised the Iraqi flag at the opening of Gulf 25.

For his part, colleague Moataz Al-Shami, a journalist at Al-Ittihad newspaper, said that he had heard about the generosity of the Iraqi people, but when he visited Iraq, he experienced this matter himself, indicating that they found a civilized and elegant treatment and generosity beyond description.

Al-Shami added, "When I and some of my media colleagues visited a restaurant to eat meals or use a taxi for transportation, the taxi drivers refused to take the fare, and the same was the case with restaurant owners under the pretext that we were guests of Iraq."

He continued: «One of the situations that I do not forget is that when I visited a commercial store in Basra and I was asking about the quality of some commodities, but the owner of the shop surprised me and he gave me the commodity and refused to take its price».

Moataz Al-Shami indicated that throughout his coverage of the tournament, he did not see any negative issues, noting that even the minor problem that occurred in the opening match between Iraq and Oman was a result of the great stampede due to the audience's desire to attend and be in the stands.

In turn, the broadcaster on the Sharjah Sports Channel, Ali Al-Kalbani, confirmed that he had seen a hospitable and loving Iraqi people for all the peoples of the Gulf states, noting that without exaggeration he touched through his cohabitation on the ground that the Iraqi people excelled in generosity over Hatem Al-Tai, who sets the example in generosity.

He added, "I was very happy with my presence and my coverage of this Gulf wedding, and I was encouraged by the hospitality that we found on the part of the hospitable and sports-loving Iraqi people."

He added, "The presence of elderly people caught my attention, and they come from far away in Iraq and travel long distances, some of which are about 1,300 km away from Basra, in order to attend matches and support the Lions of Mesopotamia."

Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news