Kurdistan Region to repay Welsh hospitality in 2009

Wednesday, 10 December 2008; London - The Kurdistan Region in Iraq today cemented their friendship with Wales in international sport by inviting a delegation from the country to visit the region in 2009 - including Welsh Sports Minister Alun Ffred Jones, renowned Welsh athlete Colin Jackson, and senior representatives from the Sports Council Wales.

A senior ministerial-led delegation from the Kurdistan Region has been hosted in Cardiff this week by the Sports Council Wales at a unique two-day international sports conference.

Keen to repay the fabulous Welsh hospitality, Taha Barwary - the Kurdistan Regional Government Minister for Sports and Youth - said: "I am delighted to welcome the Minister and the Sports Council Wales - along with Colin Jackson - to the Kurdistan Region early next year to see first hand the progress we hope to have made, building on everything we have learned this week."

Following his meeting with Mr Alun Ffred Jones, Mr Barwary added: "Our conversation was friendly, open and concrete in targeting the key questions that emerged from the conference. We agreed to continue to promote and strengthen the good relations between Kurdistan Region and Wales in general, and in sport in particular."

Olympic silver-medalist Colin Jackson spoke to the conference on Tuesday 9 December, and expressed his desire to visit the Region to bring a message of hope and inspiration to young people involved in sports.

In addition to next year's visit, the Minister declared his intention to take ideas and lessons from the conference and feed them into the Kurdistan Region's Sport Roadmap, the key strategic approach to what the Kurdistan Region aims to achieve through building its sporting activities and infrastructure over the coming years.

The Minister also revealed his ambition to set up a 'School of Sports' in Kurdistan, and looked forward to drawing on Welsh expertise in developing grassroots sports to help achieve this.

The conference also succeeded in identifying the principal challenges facing the Kurdistan Region in the area of sports:

• To promote a stronger culture of sport in the Region;
• To encourage better collaboration between key sporting bodies;
• To improve leadership and management skills, from the regional level down to individual sports clubs;
• To create a more robust evidence-base for what sport can and is achieving in the Region;
• To do more to involve the Kurdistani diaspora in developing sports in the Region; and
• To drive forward international relationships at a regional level.

Running between Tuesday December 9 and Wednesday December 10, the conference has played host to representatives from key bodies in regional and international sports, and debated the critical challenges faced by regions wanting to develop a strong culture of sporting success.

The Kurdistan Regional Government believes the conference has marked the beginning of partnerships and exchange opportunities between UK-based sporting bodies and sports organisations in the Kurdistan Region in Iraq.

For further information about the Kurdistan Regional Government or about the International Sports Conference, please contact:

Helen Davison, Beany McLean or Campbell McDonald at Luther Pendragon on +44 (0)207 618 9100

Or else go to the website: http://www.mosy-conference.info. The website will offer updates on all the latest news announcements from the conference, including copies of keynote speeches, and host pictures from the even which can be downloaded for use by the media.

Notes to Editors

1. Kurdistan Region is an autonomous region in federal Iraq. It borders Syria to the west, Iran to the East and Turkey to the north. The Kurdistan Regional Government is at present led by Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani. The democratically-elected Kurdistan National Assembly holds legislative power in the region.
2. Kurdistan Regional Government, in collaboration with Sports Council Wales, is hosting an international sports conference on 9 and 10 December 2008 at the Welsh Institute of Sport, Cardiff.
3. Titled 'Regional sport, international participation - the role of regions in building a legacy of sporting participation and excellence', the conference will examine how to establish enduring frameworks to encourage all levels of sporting activity - from grassroots to international level - in federal and devolved regions, including those affected by conflict.
4. The conference will focus on five themes:
   • The role of sport in post conflict nations
   • Building social capital through sport - women, disabled and youth sport
   • Increasing grassroots and elite participation in sport
   • Regional sports funding and administration
   • How regions compete internationally
5. Sports like football are already popular in Kurdistan. At the club level, the Kurdish club Arbil FC has won the Iraqi Super League two years running and will compete in the Asian Champions League. At the national team level, despite a great willingness to compete internationally the Kurdistan Region team is not yet affiliated with FIFA or the Asian Football Federation.
6. The Regional Government is investing in creating new sports facilities and infrastructure across Kurdistan, and hopes to increase levels of public involvement in other sports popular in the region – including volleyball, athletics, wrestling, hockey, and skiing.
7. More information on Kurdistan Region and the Ministry of Sports and Youth can be found at www.krg.org and www.mosy-krg.org