On behalf of His Excellency Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Fayyad bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili, Commander of the Northwestern District, Major General Hussein bin Saeed Al-Qahtani, yesterday opened the first stage of the 18th Spartakiad of the Armed Forces. Forces in the North-Western District (Tabuk), with the participation of more than three thousand athletes representing the Ground Forces, the Air Force, the Navy, the Air Defense Forces, the Strategic Missile Forces, the Main Directorate of Health. The commander of the Northwest Region raised the flag of the tournament to mark its opening, wishing everyone to show sports ethics and worthy competition, and the director of affairs welcomed Colonel Saad bin Jameel Al Rashidi of the Land Force Headquarters in a speech to the ground forces taking the course with the personnel of the participating forces, acknowledging the support and assistance given to sport in the armed forces by HRH Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Defense – may God bless him – for making a difference to sport in enhancing the fitness and morale of the armed forces .
For his part, the director of the 18th Spartakiad of the Armed Forces, Brigadier General Sultan bin Abdul Rahman Al Shehri emphasized the importance of this course as it aims to unite athletes in a fair competition, emphasizing many physical competencies, developing and improving individual and collective skills, and giving athletes the opportunity to participate in championships and sports competitions at various levels, from the part in which they work to the teams of the armed forces, and then participate in internal and external tournaments at the level of the Gulf countries, Arab countries and at the international level.
He noted that the previous courses had achieved positive and fruitful results at the level of military sports in all sectors, explaining that the course will be held in three stages, the first stage in the northwestern region (Tabuk), and its competitions will be held at King Air Base Faisal, and the second stage in the eastern region (Dhahran). And the third stage in the northern region (Hafar Al-Batin), which includes team and individual games, namely: shooting, swimming, karate, volleyball, football, football, running cross country, basketball, handball, athletics and football Backgammon, taekwondo, judo and weightlifting.
