HH Shaikh Khalid chairs BOC meeting

Manama, Apr. 13 (BNA): Recently-elected Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) President HH Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa has decided to allocate five annual sports scholarships for talented athletes as he chaired the first meeting of the committee board on Friday. HH Shaikh Khalid started the meeting by expressing his great pride for winning the General Assembly trust and being elected President of the committee. He also praised the outstanding role and support of HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the King's Representative for Charity Works and Youth Affairs, and his achievements which took the Bahrain Olympic Committee to a new era of excellence and development. Among the first of the initiatives launched by HH Shaikh Khalid at the meeting was that Khalid bin Hamad Foundation (KHK) will grant five scholarships to five promising talents every year in accordance to specific criteria and conditions. He also called on athletes to help them promote their skills and stories of success. HH Shaikh Khalid also directed to prepare a study to initiate an accredited laboratory in the Kingdom of Bahrain to check doping, use one of expertise as well as to attract technical experts from abroad for the technical evaluation. He also stressed the importance of marketing the activities and programmes of the committee and investing in the available media sources, while opening the horizons of cooperation with various sports media. On his part, the Secretary-General of the committee Mohammed Al Nusuf made a presentation on the new vision and strategy of the Bahrain Olympic Committee and the next work plan to develop the administrative, financial and technical work of the committee and the sports federations, based on professional work, and adherence to the principle of integrity and transparency. The plan reviewed by the Secretary General included the restructuring of regulations, linking sports federations systems electronically, setting clear criteria for budget distribution, investment orientation to boost revenues and launching several innovative initiatives. The plan is based on achieving several objectives to provide quality services and professionally managed operations to boost the output of Bahraini sports and the industry of athletes’ heroes. The Board of Directors also has taken many decisions, the first of which was appointing Shaikha Hessa bint Khalid Al Khalifa as a member of the Board of Directors. Mohammed Shahad Shamsuddin was also appointed a Board Consultant, while Amma Ismail Al Mansouri was named Executive Director of Resources and Services. The Board of Directors also formed new standing committees, including the sports medicine committee, headed by Ali Isa Eshaqi. It includes members Faisal Khalid Kanoo a and Abdullah AlJowder. An evaluation and standard setting committee, aimed to distribute the budgets of the federations, is headed by Shaikha Hessa bint Khalid Al Khalifa and includes member Rashid Al Zayani.