The Talaba Iraqi team is one of the strongest Arab football teams. It
has won many championships in Asia and the Arab world. Therefore, Talaba
was expected to win in its match against Al-Ahli of Yemen in the Asian
Cups Champs Championship held in Sanaa last Friday, 5 September.
Before
the match started, the secretary general of Al-Ahli club announced that
he will resign if Al-Ahli was defeated by more than 2 goals. As the first
half started, both the teams began attacking. The first corner was for
Yemen. Although Al-Ahli attacked a lot, the high physical fitness of the
Iraqi players seemed to be much better.
During the second half, Al-Ahli directed the match and intensively
attacked the Iraqi square. Ali Al-Noono of Al-Ahli greatly annoyed the
Iraqi defenders and at the 72nd minute of the match he delivered a strong
shot to the Iraqi goal which, unfortunately, went just outside the left
pillar. In the 84th minute of the match, the Iraqi player Qahtan Hatheeth
sent a shot to inside the Yemeni goal which was offside. Hot attacks continued
until the match was over.
A press conference was held after the match. The coaches of both the
teams showed admiration for the performance of their players.
In spite of all the difficulties, Al-Ahli was able to make a very good
showing. An unexpected result was really a big surprise which made some
of the fans even cry out of happiness.
The Yemeni Taekwondo Association (YTA) is organizing the Republic's
4th Championship for Taekwondo during September 8-12. Athletes from the
sports clubs of Yarmook, Hilal, Ahli of Taiz, Wahda of Aden, Tadhamon,
Shararah, Shabab al-Baida, and Shabab Amran will all participate in this
event.
The following weights will be included in the competitions: 50 kg,
54 kg, 58 kg, 62 kg, 67 kg, 72 kg, 78 kg, and 84 kg.
The YTA also organizes the Yemeni Cities Championship for under 17
years old during the same period. Youths from Sanaa, Aden, Hodeida, Taiz,
Hadhramaut, and Amran will participate according to the following weights:
22 kg, 24 kg, 26 kg, 29 kg, 32 kg, 35 kg, 39 kg, and 43 kg.
All the activities will be held at the hall of the Yemeni High Sport
Institute in Al-Thawra Sports City. In addition, a special course for referees
will be held. Fifteen referees from all over Yemen will umpire the matches.
The competitions will start on September 9 and will finish on September
12. The conclusion ceremony will be held on September 12 to present certificates,
medals and cups to the winners. About 100 Taekwondo players from different
clubs are expected to take part in the concluding ceremony.
The YTA has organized more than one activity during 1998. During March,
the YTA held a course for national referees. In April, it held a course
for advanced coaches with an international lecturer. It sent several Yemeni
coaches and referees to Seoul, Korea in July to qualify as international
referees. It also sent 5 Yemeni coaches to participate in the international
referees course which was held in Kenya, Nairobi, at the beginning of August,
1998.
The Wahda of Sanaa was defeated, by Al-Refa'a of Bahrain, 2-0 in the
match held last Friday in Bahrain within the Asian Championship qualifying
matches for the cup winners teams. Al-Wahda gave a good performance and
intensified the attacks in the first half, yet Refa'a managed to penetrate
the defense lines of Al-Wahda and score its first goal. The second half
ended with the final score 2-0.
The Wahda of Sanaa came first in the excellent division football tournament
of 1997/1998 and Ahli of Sanaa won second position.
The
heavy defeats for our youth football team during Asia's football qualifying
matches, held in Qatar last August, were expected. This is not strange
because the national team has not even found a sports field to receive
training and the time spent in the training camp was very limited. Also,
the Football Association and the Ministry of Youth and Sports have not
paid proper attention to the team and forgot that our team represents Yemen.
The deteriorating conditions of Yemeni sport were demonstrated at the
Yemeni team's last match against Qatar in which our team was horribly defeated
8-1. If this happened in another country, the Minister of Youth and Sports
would resign immediately. But in Yemen, the Ministry of Youth and Sports
takes no responsibility for our heavy defeats and bad performances.
The victory achieved by Abdulrahman Abdulaziz last week in the Arab
Athletics Championship in Syria, was not enough to make up for the other
defeats.
Sportsmen are suffering badly as a result of the hard economic circumstances
and their enthusiasm for sport is dampened. Many sports clubs have become
like a cafe where you just drink coffee and tea and the sports associations
are just names without any meaning.
Thus, our teams come out with heavy defeats and bad performances. All
of that reflects the aimless sports planning which is reliant on the ambition
of the players and good luck!
The reforms adopted by the government should not be limited to one
field. The Youth and Sports field needs many constructive reforms and modern
conceptions to keep abreast of the times and to go into the 21st century
with a positive attitude.
We urge the Minister of Youth and Sports to ask one player of every
club the following questions:
1) How and where do you get training?
2) What sort of food do you eat?
3) What does your sports association provide you with?
Jamal Al-Awadhi
Sport Editor
