Pan Arab Games

The Arab Games (Arabic: الألعاب العربية), also called the Pan Arab Games, are a regional multi-sport event held between nations from the Arab world. They are organized by the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees. The first Games took place in 1953 in Alexandria, Egypt. Intended to be held every four years since, political turmoil as well as financial difficulties have made the event an unstable one. Women first competed in 1985.[1]

Pan Arab Games
AbbreviationPAG
First event26 July – 10 August 1953, Alexandria, Egypt
Last event6–23 December 2011, Doha, Qatar
OrganizationUnion of Arab National Olympic Committees
Games

History

The Arab Games were the brainchild of Abdul Rahman Hassan Azzam, the first General Secretary of the Arab League (1945–1952). In 1947, Azzam submitted a memorandum to the League, advocating a multi-sport tournament which involved the participation of all Arab countries.

According to Azzam, sport serves as the best way to connect the youth of Arab countries and enable them to build the future of the Arab identity. As a common favorite of young individuals, sports tournaments encourage them to reach out across boundaries, bond with fellow Arabs, and eliminate differences among them. In the same vein, Azzam announced that the youth of the larger Arab nation is eager to gather all the dispersed Arab sports in an annual tournament which will be held in one of the Arab cities.

However, the Arab Games tournament did not gain official approval until 1953, when Ahmed El Demerdash Touny, an Egyptian national and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), managed to convince the concerned parties within the Arab League that an Arab Games tournament would be instrumental to the overall success of the Arab identity. In response to Touny's proposal, the Arab League agreed on establishing the Arab Games, making Egypt the first country to organise an Arab Games tournament, which was held in the city of Alexandria from 26 July, – 10 August 1953. Eight Arab nations and Indonesia competed in the first Arab Games tournament.

The 2011 Games started in Doha on 9 December with the Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani inaugurating the event at the Khalifa International Stadium.[2]

Complications

Typically the games are to take place every four years; however, the last Arab Games were held in 2011 and because of the recent events in the Middle East the games have been postponed with no set date in sight. Initially Lebanon was set to host the 2015 XIII Pan Arab Games, but "withdrew because of the crisis in the Middle East".[3] Following Beirut's withdrawal Morocco was then chosen to host the games, but faced financial complications and also withdrew. "Mohamed Ouzzine, Morocco's Minister of Youth and Sports [at the time, wrote to] the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees (UANOC) telling them that they would be withdrawing."[3]

The same year, Egypt volunteered to host the event. "Sheikh Khalid Al Zubair, chairman of the Oman Olympic Committee (OOC)" said, "We will be offering our full support to Egypt and we have also taken a decision to suspend the financial regulations and other requirements due to lack of time."[4] Had the UANOC accepted Egypt's proposition the games would have taken place in December 2015; however, no such event was held and there have been no formal statements made in regards to the possibility of future games.

Because of the current events in the Middle East there is no telling when the next Arab Games will take place or what country may host the games. If the UANOC keeps the same schedule for holding the games every four years the next games would have taken place in 2019 with an entirely new host country and no reference to the mishap of the 2015 Arab Games.

Editions
Host cities of the Pan Arab Games
Year Games Host Dates Opened by Nations Competitors Sports Events Top nation
Men Women Total
1953 1 Egypt Alexandria 26 July – 10 August 9 650 — 650 10  Egypt
1957 2 Lebanon Beirut 13 – 27 October 10 914 — 914 12  Lebanon
1961 3 Morocco Casablanca 24 August – 8 September 9 1127 — 1127 11  United Arab Republic*
1965 4 United Arab Republic Cairo** 2 – 14 September 14 1500 — 1500 13  United Arab Republic**
1976 5 Syria Damascus 6 – 21 October 11 2174 — 2174 18  Syria
1985 6 Morocco Rabat 24 August – 8 September 17 3442 18  Morocco
1992 7 Syria Damascus 4 – 18 September 18 2611 14  Syria
1997 8 Lebanon Beirut 13 – 27 July 18 3253 22  Egypt
1999 9 Jordan Amman 15 – 31 August 21 5504 26  Egypt
2004 10 Algeria Algiers 24 September – 10 October 22 5525 32  Algeria
2007 11 Egypt Cairo 11 – 26 November 22 6000 32  Egypt
2011 12 Qatar Doha 9 – 23 December[5] 21 6000 33  Egypt
2015 – Cancelled[lower-alpha 1]
2023 13 Algeria Algeria (7 states) 5 – 15 July 22 21

Sports

37 sports were presented in the Pan Arab Games history.

Sport Years
Athletics () since 1953
Archery () since 1953
Badminton () since 1999
Basketball () since 1953
Bodybuilding () since 1999
Boxing () since 1953
Bowling () since 2007
Bridge () () since 1999
Camel racing () since 2007
Cue Sports since 2011
Chess () () since 1999
Cycling () since 1957
Diving () since ....
Sport Years
Equestrian () since 1957
Fencing () since 1953
Finswimming () since 1999
Football () since 1953
Golf () since 1985
Gymnastics () since 1953
Handball () since 1961
Judo () since 1976
Karate () since 1976
Kickboxing () since 1999
Modern pentathlon () since 2007
Rowing () since 1957
Sport Years
Sailing () since 1985
Shooting () since 1953
Squash () since 1999
Surfing () since 1999
Swimming () since 1953
Table tennis () since 1976
Taekwondo () since 1997
Tennis () since 1961
Volleyball () since 1957
Water polo () since 1961
Weightlifting () since 1953
Wrestling () since 1953

All-time medal table

Below is the medal table of the Arab Games tournaments, up until the 12th tournament 2011.

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Egypt (EGY)6214263751422
2 Tunisia (TUN)280226295801
3 Morocco (MAR)278237276791
4 Algeria (ALG)255305321881
5 Syria (SYR)229239316784
6 United Arab Republic (UAR)1227449245
7 Lebanon (LIB)82122190394
8 Iraq (IRQ)82121183386
9 Qatar (QAT)7480100254
10 Jordan (JOR)70125176371
11 Saudi Arabia (KSA)6997126292
12 Kuwait (KUW)4061117218
13 United Arab Emirates (UAE)293653118
14 Bahrain (BHR)26204692
15 Sudan (SUD)244236102
16 Libya (LBA)213852111
17 Oman (OMN)14162151
18 Yemen (YEM)7101936
19 Palestine (PLE)5186386
20 Djibouti (DJI)1214
21 North Yemen (YAR)1012
22 Somalia (SOM)0415
23 South Yemen (YMD)0011
Totals (23 entries)2330229928187447

See also

Notes
  1. Initially held in Beirut, Lebanon it was cancelled due to security conditions, so the hosting moved to Agadir or Rabat, Morocco, which in turn apologized for hosting and was thus postponed to 2019, and then canceled.

References
  1. "12th Pan Arab Games in Doha". Marhaba. 30 October 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  2. "Gulf Times – Qatar's top-selling English daily newspaper - First Page". Archived from the original on 11 December 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
  3. Mackay, Duncan (17 October 2014). "Pan Arab Games 2015 in doubt after Morocco pull out over financial fears". Insidethegames.biz. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  4. Mackay, Duncan (2 March 2015). "Egypt set to host 2015 Arab Games after two countries withdraw". Insidethegames.biz. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  5. UANOC amends the time-schedule of Pan Arab Games 2011 Archived 30 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine published by the Qatar Olympic Committee on 6 March 2011; retrieved 10 March 2011

Sources
  • Bell, Daniel (2003). Encyclopedia of International Games. McFarland and Company, Inc. Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina. ISBN 0-7864-1026-4.
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