Hargeysa, July 7, 2007 (SL Times) – Somaliland Minister of Sport and Youth Mohamoud Saeed has announced on Thursday that Somaliland’s regional games tournament will start on 23 July, 2007 in Hargeysa and that the regional sports tournament will be participated by all of Somaliland’s six regions of Hargeysa, Togdheer, Awdal, Sanag, Sahil and Sool, and said the tournament's sporting activities will comprise of football, basketball and track and field (athletics) games.

In a press conference held in the minister’s office on Thursday, the minister said “we have been waiting a long time for this event to take place and that for some time the question regarding ‘when the ministry will hold the tournament has been long awaited and I am honoured today to announce the venue and start date for the regional games, Hargeysa will be the host venue for the regional tournament games to be held and will begin on 23 July 2007”.

The minister called on all of his regional ministry’s sport coordinators and their respective teams and contestants to arrive in Hargeysa no later than 20 July, so that they can at least get two full days of rest before start of the tournament and requested the regional governors and town mayor’s to support and encourage their region’s teams and contestants by providing them with whatever assistances and to escort them to the capital.

The minister added that all the expenses of the players and their transport will be reimbursed by his ministry and said all the teams and contestants meals and lodgings expenses while in Hargeysa during the tournament will be covered by the ministry and co’ funded by UNFPA.

“The regional teams and contestants will be allocated to the five Hargeysa districts during the games”, the minister said.

Somaliland’s regional annual sport tournament is the biggest sporting activity in Somaliland’s sport calendar.

The minister for Sport, Mohamed Saeed was asked, ‘the number of different sporting activities in the tournament?’

The minister said, “Football, basketball and track and field (athletics), will be the prime sporting activities taking place in the tournament. All Regions will be represented in these activities, even though, one or two districts in some of the regions will not be taking part in the basketball activity because these districts do not have basketball facilities in their districts”.

‘Why, Hargeysa region is always the chosen host venue for holding the tournament?’, was put to the minister and in reply said “because other regions or their capitals do not have the capacities and sporting facilities available to host for this kind of tournament”.

The minister mentioned that this year’s tournament will have a Somaliland national from Norway who is a qualified professional referee and sport judge, and will aid the ministry in its refereeing and supervision of the major tournament’s games, and that this will assist the quality of the games this year, greatly.

This tournament has not been held for the past two years because of financial restraints inside the ministry of Sport.

The last tournament held by the ministry was in 2004. In that year the region Sanag won the football tournament’s ‘Regional Cup winners Cup’ contest and Hargeysa region netted the basketball ‘Regional Champions Cup’.

Source: Somaliland Times