Al Malki named BOC Athletes panel chairman

Manama : Omar Yousef Al Malki was elected the new chairman of the Bahrain Olympic Committee’s (BOC) Athletes Commission following an announcement yesterday.

The national team’s swimming ace won the majority of votes during elections against Bahrain shooting team member Salman Zaman after both candidates were tied in the first round with three votes each at the BOC premises in Seef.

A second and deciding round of the election also ended with the two sides level, and a draw was conducted to determine the outcome. The result also gave Al Malki one of the nine BOC board seats.

Al Malki has now taken over the post from outgoing chairwoman and former short-distance Arab athletic champion Ruqaya Al Ghasra, who did not enter the new cycle election.

An election panel, comprising BOC sports affairs executive director Abduljalil Asad, legal consultant Salah Khodr, secretary Sameer Abdulqader and media head Hassan Ali supervised the elections.

The remaining five candidates fought for four seats in the Athletes Commission board as Samira Al Bitar and Azza Al Qasmi (6 votes each), Khalid Baba and Fatma Abdulmohsin (4 each) claimed their posts, while Mahmood Haji was out after a draw with Baba and Abdulmohsin as all three were tied on votes.

The Athletes’ Commission is targeting the development of a dedicated athletes’ body for each of its national sports federations and contribute ideas, complaints and communicate the needs of the country’s sportspeople.