Pan Arab Games

Arab Games
الألعاب العربية

150px Arab Games logo
First event	1953 Alexandria
Occur every	Four years
Last event	2011 Doha
Purpose	Multi-sport event for nations in the Arab world.
Organization	UANOC

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 were first allowed to compete in 1985.

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 July 26, – August 10, 1953. Eight Arab nations and Indonesia competed in the first Arab Games tournament.

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

Editions

Year	Games	Host	Dates	Nations	Competitors			Sports	Events	Top Country On Medal Table
					Men	Women	Total
1953	I	Alexandria	July 26 – August 10	9	650	—	650	10		Egypt
1957	II	Beirut	October 13 – 27	10	914	—	914	12		Lebanon
1961	III	Casablanca	August 24 – September 8	9	1127	—	1127	11		United Arab Republic*
1965	IV	Cairo	September 2 – 14	14	1500	—	1500	13		United Arab Republic**
1976	V	Damascus	October 6 – 21	11	2174	—	2174	18		Syria
1985	VI	Rabat	August 24 – September 8	17			3442	18		Morocco
1992	VII	Damascus	September 4 – 18	18			2611	14		Syria
1997	VIII	Beirut	July 13 – 27	18			3253	22		Egypt
1999	IX	Amman	August 15 – 31	21			5504	26		Egypt
2004	X	Algiers	September 24 – October 10	22			5525	32		Algeria
2007	XI	Cairo	November 11 – 26	22			6000	32		Egypt
2011	XII	Doha	December 9 – 23	21			6000	33		Egypt
2015	XIII		Future event

• * United Arab Republic with Egypt and Syria.
• ** United Arab Republic with Egypt only.

1953

1973, 1997

1961

1965, 2007

1976, 1992

1985

1999

2004

2011

Host cities of the Pan Arab Games

Sports

36 sports were presented in the Pan Arab Games history.

Sport Years Athletics () since 1953 Badminton () since 1999 Basketball () since 1953 Bodybuilding () since 1999 Boxing () since 1953 Bowling () since 2007 Bridge () since 1999 Camel riding () since 2007 align="right" Chess () since 1999 Cycling () since 1957 Diving () since ....

Sport Years Equestrian () since 1957 Fencing () since 1953 Football () since 1953 Golf () since 1985 Gymnastics () since 1953 Handball () since 1961 Judo () since 1976 Karate () since 1976 Kick boxing () since 1999 Modern pentathlon () since 2007 Rowing () since 1957

Sport Years Sailing () since 1985 Shooting () since 1953 Squash () 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.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Egypt	542	409	348	1299
2	Syria	279	228	282	789
3	Tunisia	257	210	274	741
4	Morocco	255	220	257	732
5	Algeria	217	253	290	760
6	United Arab Republic*	127	24	54	205
7	Lebanon	78	119	123	320
8	Iraq	77	116	151	344
9	Qatar	65	72	85	222
10	Jordan	63	96	79	238
11	Saudi Arabia	55	85	115	255
12	United Arab Emirates	26	29	42	97
13	Bahrain	23	24	39	86
14	Kuwait	20	23	46	89
15	Libya	18	26	42	86
16	Sudan	16	35	29	80
17	Oman	14	14	22	50
18	Palestine	5	29	60	94
19	Yemen**	5	7	15	27
20	Djibouti	1	2	1	4
21	Somalia	0	4	1	5
22	Comoros	0	0	0	0
	Mauritania	0	0	0	0

• * The United Arab Republic (1958–1961) contains 2 countries Egypt & Syria.

** Yemen including North Yemen and South Yemen.

See also

• Egypt at the Pan Arab Games
• 2011 Pan Arab Games

References

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

External links

• Athletics medalists
• http://www.egolympic.org.eg/olymusfram.html
• Arab Games 2011 official website
• Arab Games 2011 Exhibition and Timeline