Baghdad Captain Hussein Saeed chaired a video meeting of the Competitions Committee of the West Asian Football Association.
The committee held its meeting via video communication technology, headed by Hussein Saeed (Iraq), and in the presence of the members: Dr. Khalid bin Muqrin (Saudi Arabia), Saif Al-Mansoori (UAE), Hamad Al-Mannai (Qatar), Othman Jamal (Syria).
The agenda of the West Asian Federation competitions for 2022, according to what was reviewed by Abeer Al-Rantissi, the director of competitions, includes many tournaments, all of which were approved by the committee.
The West Asian Football Association will organize during the FIFA days from 21 to 29 March 2022 the third under-23 championship, which targets the age group born in 1999, and this date was chosen to hold it as a preparatory tournament for the teams that qualified from the West Asian region: Jordan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, to the upcoming Asian finals, with the member associations being addressed to determine the host, and the possibility of inviting teams from outside the West Asian region, as this depends on the number of participating teams from the member associations.
The West Asian Football Association is seeking to organize the fourth under-23 tournament, to be scheduled later, in line with the qualifying dates for the Asian finals and the Paris Olympics.
It was also approved to hold the third West Asian Federation Championship for youth born in 2003 during the period from July 25 to August 4, 2022, to be hosted by the Palestinian Football Association, and to precede the Asian qualifiers scheduled from September 10 to 18, 2022, and the approval of holding the ninth West Asian Federation Championship for juniors born in 2006 During the period from May 24 to June 3, or from September 1 to September 10, 2022, with the hosting country and the deadline set later, as well as the Asian qualifiers that will be held from October 1 to 9, 2022.
In addition, the West Asian Federation is seeking, during the month of May 2022, to organize the second beach soccer tournament as part of its strategy to develop the game in the region, to be hosted by the Saudi Federation in cooperation with Beach Soccer Worldwide within the agreement concluded with it.
It will also organize its fourth Futsal Championship for men, hosted by the Kuwait Federation, and the date will be determined later, in line with the Asian qualifiers scheduled from 1 to 15 April 2022.
At the end of the meeting, the committee reviewed the reports of the tournaments organized by the federation in 2021, which is the second under-23 tournament that was held in Saudi Arabia, with the participation of 11 teams: Jordan (champion), Saudi Arabia (runner-up), UAE, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Bahrain, as well as the second youth championship hosted by the Iraqi Federation in Erbil, Basra, and Baghdad, and witnessed the participation of: Iraq (champion), Lebanon (runner-up), Jordan, UAE, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Kuwait, Yemen, the two seas.
The 2021 championships also included the eighth West Asian Junior Championships, hosted by the Saudi Federation in Dammam and Al-Khobar, and witnessed the participation of: Yemen (champion), Saudi Arabia (runner-up), Jordan, UAE, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Bahrain.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency