ADIL AL BALUSHI
MUSCAT, JAN 31
Oman veteran's football team will take part in the Arabian Gulf Cup Championship for Veterans which will take place in Kuwait from February 23 to 27. The tournament was supposed to be held during the concluded 26th edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup Championship but the organisers had preferred to postpone the event to February as Kuwait will have their annual festival during this period. The tournament draw will take place during one of the dates during February 20 to 24.
The Oman Football Association (OFA) announced recently that the national veteran's football team will vie in this tournament. OFA unveiled the coaching staff who will head the team headed by the national experienced coach Younis Amman and assisted by coach Mohammed Khamis al Oraimi.
According to OFA, the selection criteria of the coaching staff was based to the accumulative technical experience of both head coach and his assistant at the national teams and clubs level. Furthermore, both veterans delivered several accomplishments to the national team while they had played as players and coaches. The coaching staff will start selecting the Oman veteran team players who will represent the team in the upcoming edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup Championship for Veterans.
The technical rules of the tournament will accept the player's age which should be 40 years or older. The playing format of the event will be based on the last Gulf Cup which was hosted by Kuwait as the competitions will be held in a group system with each group including four teams, and the first and second from each group will qualify to the semifinals. Then, the winners from the semifinals will progress to the final match.
The Al Nasr Stadium will be the venue for the tournament. The other regulations of the tournament will include that the match will last 40 minutes divided into two halves of 20 minutes each. Each team will comprise 11 players allowing open substitutions and stressing that video assistant referee (VAR) technology will not be used in the tournament. The Al Nasr Stadium will include training grounds and this will give the teams the opportunity to conduct their training and warm-up in one location which gives it an organisational advantage.
The event will be a great opportunity to bring together the legends of the game and revive memories of historical competitions in a competitive and distinctive atmosphere. The tournament also aims to highlight the Gulf football heritage through the participation of the most prominent former football stars in the region and to enhance the sporting and cultural experience gained from the current version of the tournament.
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