Sharjah: The Arab Women Sports Tournament (AWST), organised by Sharjah Women’s Sports (SWS), has broken a personal record. The tournament’s Supreme Organising Committee (SOC) has announced the largest participation in its eight-year history with a record number of 74 clubs from 16 Arab countries, which will be competing in the fifth edition.
Set to run from February 2 – 12 in Sharjah, AWST 2020 will be held under the patronage of Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, wife of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, Chairperson of SWS. The announcement was made at a press conference yesterday (Wednesday) at the iconic Sharjah World Book Capital 2019 Monument, in the presence of Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Head of the SOC of AWST; HE Issa Hilal Al Hizami, Secretary-General of the Sharjah Sports Council; HE Nada Askar Al Naqbi, Deputy Head of the SOC of AWST, Head of the Executive Committee and Director General of SWS; Abdulaziz Taryam, CEO, Advisor and General Manager of Etisalat – Northern Emirates; and Rashid Al Obaid, Director of Sharjah Sports Channel.
During the event, SOC revealed that the UAE topped the list with 14 participating clubs, followed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) with 12 clubs, which is the highest number of clubs from KSA that has signed up to compete in any edition of AWST. The Committee also confirmed that nine clubs will be representing Bahrain, while Jordan, Kuwait, and Algeria would participate in the sporting event with six clubs each.
The rest of the participating countries include Egypt with 4 clubs; Libya, Sudan, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia, and Palestine with two clubs each; and Oman, Iraq, and Morocco with one each.