Arab Women Sports Tournament (AWST) organised by Sharjah Women’s Sports (SWS) has announced that all individual format games categories of the tournament will be accepting two clubs from all participating Arab nations for its fifth edition in 2020, to be held in Sharjah from Feb. 2–12.

This is the first time that participation in seven out of the nine competition categories of AWST, namely, shooting, archery, table tennis, karate, show jumping, fencing and athletics, has been expanded since the tournament was incepted.

Organisers affirm that the decision has been made to raise the profile of women’s sports in the region, increase participation in AWST, boost the level of competition and, ultimately, advance the quality of all individual sporting disciplines offered on the AWST platform.

The announcement was made during AWST 2020’s first preparatory committee meeting chaired by Sheikha Hayat Bint Abdulaziz Al Khalifa, Chairperson of AWST’s Preparatory Committee, and held in the presence Nada Askar Al Naqbi, Deputy Head of AWST’s Supreme Organising Committee, Head of AWST’s Executive Committee and Director General of SWS. The meeting was attended by all members of the preparatory committee.

The meeting reflected on recommendations made by previous meetings, reviewed ongoing tournament plans and discussed the possibility of the Arab Equestrian Federation and UAE Equestrian and Racing Federation to supervise the equestrian and show jumping competitions during the event.

The meeting’s attendees also reviewed lists of banned substances issued by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and the latest developments regarding a partnership agreement with an international laboratory who will be conducting the anti-doping tests for AWST 2020 players. They also discussed a proposal aimed at further developing the tournament in order for it to become a qualifying event for regional, continental and international competitions.

Sheikha Hayat Bint Abdulaziz Al Khalifa, said: “The decision to allow two clubs from all participating nations in the individual games categories is a big step forward, which will pave the way for more talented female athletes in the Arab region to participate and challenge their peers”.