Written by / Muhammad Al Joker
We congratulate the Iraqi and Omani brotherly teams for qualifying for the final of the Arab Gulf Cup “Basra 25”, in one of the most important tournaments that were held in terms of technical development, public attendance and media coverage, which placed it on top of the previous sessions, and this indicates Iraqi hospitality and generosity, and there are some situations that It has never been discussed before. In the second session in Riyadh 1972, which witnessed the first appearance of the late Prince Faisal bin Fahd, “may God have mercy on him,” in this event, after he was entrusted with the task of managing the course, and the matches proceeded at a good arbitration level until the final match that brought together the Saudi team with its Bahraini counterpart. The tournament system at the time provided for calculating the number of goals to determine the winner of the cup, in the event of equal points, as the Kuwaiti team was closest to achieving and preserving the title, especially since it was ahead of the Saudi team in the number of goals, and the Saudi team in the final match against Bahrain had to score more than 5 to 6 goals.
The match started and the Bahraini team succeeded in advancing the score with a goal without a response, and the second half witnessed unfortunate events, and the Sudanese referee decided to expel 3 players from Bahrain, then expelled the goalkeeper, which was the decisive point in the match, which gave the host team the opportunity to score a great scoring rate. After that, the Bahrain coach, the Egyptian coach Hamada Al-Sharqawi, directed the players to withdraw from the match, which forced the organizing committee of the tournament to take a decision to write off the results of the Bahraini due to the withdrawal!
The late King Fahd bin Abdulaziz, may God have mercy on him, ordered the identity of the hero to be decided, and the Kuwaiti team awarded the cup, although the Saudi team was looking forward to embracing the first Gulf Cup on its land, and Kuwait said, “Kuwait is our guests, and they deserve the cup. This is how our great leaders think.. By God.” behind the intent.
