Qatar confirmed hosts of 23rd Gulf Cup Football Championship

Muscat: Qatar has been confirmed as hosts of the 23rd Gulf Cup Football Championship.
A decision to this effect was taken during a meeting of the heads of the GCC national football associations in Doha on Saturday.
According to information received here, the GCC football chiefs have unanimously agreed to give the hosting rights to Qatar.
The 23rd edition of the Gulf region’s premier football championship was postponed twice in the past.
The championship was originally scheduled to have been hosted in Iraqi city of Basra in February 2015 but the hosts pulled out due to financial crisis.
The championship schedule was then changed to 2016 and later to 2017 with Kuwait selected as the hosts.
However, three-time hosts Kuwait too had to withdraw following it’s suspension by world soccer body FIFA.
On Saturday, the GCC football chiefs put an end to all speculations by selecting Qatar as the hosts while also announcing the tentative schedule of the championships.
The football chiefs have agreed for the tournament to be hosted in December 2017 to January 2018. But they have decided to announce the exact dates later after considering all the aspects, including the engagements of clubs as well as national teams of all participating teams.
New tournaments
During Doha meeting, the GCC football also elected Qatar Football Association President Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani has been elected chairman of the newly-formed federation of the Gulf Cup.
Meanwhile, Said Saud Al Mohannadi, Vice-President of QFA, the office of the new body will be based in Doha.
Media reports also quoted him as saying that ‘an investment firm will market two high profile events set to be launched by the new Gulf football body’.
“In addition to the hugely popular Gulf Cup, two new tournaments will
be added to the regional calendar. The next step would be to work on the rules and regulations of new events,” Al Mohannadi was quoted as saying.
The officials will reveal further information on the two tournaments in due course.