Khalid Al Zubair to seek another term as Oman Olympic Committee chairman

Muscat: The Oman Olympic Committee (OOC) has finalised the date of the General Assembly and the board elections for the 2016-2020 term during a meeting on Wednesday.
While the Sultanate’s Olympic body has set January 31 as the date for the elections, it also emerged after the meeting that Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed Al Zubair will seek another term as the chairman of the Oman Olympic Committee. And so will be the Secretary-General Taha Al Kishry.
Speaking to Times Sport right after the meeting, OOC Secretary-General Taha Al Kishry confirmed the date of the General Assembly and elections as well as the news of Sheikh Khalid Al Zubair seeking another term of office.
The OOC board members met on Wednesday following the completion of mandatory period required after the elections of all associations, to announce the dates and process of the OOC elections.
“The date for the general assembly and elections has been set. The elections will take place on January 31,” Taha said.
“We will soon start the election process. The OOC election committee will start receiving the nominations from December 20 and that process will continue for a period of one week,” he said.
Taha also confirmed that Al Zubair will be seeking another term while also revealing his desire to continue his good work as the Secretary-General for another four-year period.
“Sheikh Khalid Al Zubair will be running for the post of chairman for the second time. I would also like to continue and carry forward the good work as the secretary-general,” Taha said.
Sheikh Khalid Al Zubair’s present tenure started on April 25 in 2013 when he became the first democratically elected chairman of the OOC after defeating Sayyid Khalid Al Busaidi, the then chairman of the Oman Football Association, and Habib Abdulnabi Macki, the Ministry of Sports Affairs-appointed OCC chairman of that time.
In the past, Sheikh Khalid Al Zubair also served as the chairman of the Oman Tennis Association, while Taha, who was recently re-elected as chief of Oman Swimming Association, is an experienced sports administrator who holds highly responsible roles both at the local and international sports bodies, including secretary-general’s post at the Asian Swimming Federation.
It remains to be seen who will now come forward to challenge Sheikh Khalid Al Zubair and Taha Al Kishry for the posts.
Committees formed
The OOC, meanwhile, also approved the formation of Women’s Sports Committee and the Athletes Committee during the meeting.
“As per the OOC statutes, both the Women’s Sports Committee and the Athletes Committee are to be formed before the elections,” informed Taha.
Both the committees will have a say in the OOC General Assembly and the new OOC board.
“Both the committees can nominate one person each and they will automatically become the new board members without contesting the elections. Similarly the women’s committee can nominate one member to the general assembly and the athletes committee are eligible to send two — one male and one female — members to the general assembly. All three will have the voting rights,” Taha informed.
New website launched
Prior to Wednesday’s meeting, the OOC organised a ceremony to launch the Olympic body’s new website with Dr. Hammad bin Hamad Al Ghafri, Advisor to the Ministry of Civil Service, officially inaugurating the site.