12th Arab Games open in Qatar

The opening ceremony of the 12th Arab Games, hosted by the State of Qatar, was held last night (Friday 9th December) at the country's Khalifa International Stadium.

Taking place from 9th to 23rd December 'Doha 2011' will feature 33 sporting disciplines played at 14 fully-equipped competition venues.

Last night's opening ceremony, organised by David Atkins Enterprises (DAE), welcomed the 6,000 athletes and officials from 21 participating Arab nations and carried a message of peace and freedom conveyed through the unity of sport and the celebration of Arabic culture.

Explaining the ceremony, DAE Chief Executive David Atkins stated "in close collaboration with the Arab Games Organising Committee, DAE created a story inspired and informed by the stories and images of pre-Islamic and Islamic history.

"The Ceremony was created to acknowledge the importance of these times, a time when the very pages of Arabic history are being re-written."

Journey to Light is an allegorical tale of the Arab world that represents the coming together of countries from around the region to deliver a message of peace. The story celebrates the desert as a land of prophecy and light, where disparate tribes learnt to live together in peace and harmony through the shining light of knowledge.

Abdulla Al Mulla, Director of Ceremonies and Media for the Organising Committee of the 12th Arab Games, Doha 2011 added "the Ceremony was a celebration of the rich cultural heritage of our Arab lands, and the ties of history, lineage and language that bind us together," said Abdulla Al Mulla, Director of Ceremonies and Media for the Organising Committee of the 12th Arab Games, Doha 2011.

"It sent a message of peace and unity, and is something we know Arabs will be proud of for years to come."

The Ceremony featured some of the brightest stars of the Arab World, including Ehab Taufiq, Fahad Al Kubaisi, Asala Nasri, Nadim Sawalha and Abir Issa. Together with a cast of over 3,250 dancers, musicians, athletes, horsemen and falconers, the show was a pageant of performance, costumes, scenic elements and gargantuan props, set against an unprecedented display surface that turned both the stadium floor and entire audience bowl into the world's largest screen'.

Technical innovation in the Opening Ceremony played a major role and marked two world firsts.' With 86 projectors video mapping 126,000 metres3 on the field of play, the show set a world record with the largest stadium projection surface attempted in history. Also for the first time in stadium entertainment, the 40,000-strong audience was integrated into the display surface to form a giant LED - screen' made up of 85,000 individual pixels. This extended the display surface by 41,500 metres2 to encompass the entire stadium bowl, adding the audience to the vast canvas of visual content.

33 disciplines will be part of the competition during Arab Games, including aquatics comprise, archery, athletics, basketball, beach volleyball, bodybuilding, bowling, boxing, chess, billiards, snooker, cycling, equestrian (dressage), equestrian (endurance), equestrian (Jumping), and fencing.

It will also include football, goal ball, golf, gymnastics artistic, gymnastics (trampoline), handball, judo, karate, para-athletics, sailing, shooting, squash, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, volleyball-Indoor, and weightlifting and wrestling.

Games competition begins today (Saturday 10th December).

Organised by the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees, the first Arab Games was held in 1953, in Alexandria, Egypt.

Since then the Games have been staged across the Pan-Arab region in countries as diverse as Lebanon, Syria, Morocco, and Algeria.

For more information go to www.arabgames2011.qa/newen/