In a surprise decision, the Tunisian Swimming Federation announced in a statement published on Friday that the Arab Open Water Swimming Championships, initially scheduled to be held in Tunisia from October 2 to 4, have been postponed. The decision was prompted by an insufficient number of entries from participating countries and swimmers.

Federation President Hedia Mansour said that conditions linked to the war and the tense situation in the Arab Gulf region had led to the postponement of the competition. She explained that the decision was taken in coordination with the Arab Swimming Federation after it became clear that swimmers from the Arab Gulf countries — Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and the Sultanate of Oman — were unable to travel due to the direct repercussions of the regional conflict in the Gulf.

She also revealed that all the necessary organizational arrangements for hosting the Arab Championships were ready and in place. The Tunisian Swimming Federation is now awaiting the Arab Swimming Federation’s approval in order to set a new date for the competition.

Hedia Mansour stressed that the Championships had not been cancelled and that Tunisia had not been stripped of the right to host them, but had simply been postponed for the reasons outlined above. These circumstances prevented the event from attracting a sufficient number of participating countries and swimmers to ensure that the competition could be held under the best possible technical and organizational conditions.

Asked whether Tunisia’s two world champions, Ahmed Ayoub Hafnaoui and Ahmed Jaouadi, would take part in the Arab Championships once a new date had been set, the Federation president said they would not participate, as both swimmers are now fully focused on their preparations for the World Championships.

She added that the Tunisian Swimming Federation was now focusing its efforts on youth and junior categories, with the aim of developing a new generation of swimmers capable of offering hope for the years ahead and becoming future world and Olympic champions.

What's happening in Tunisia?
Subscribe to our Youtube channel for updates.