UAE bans its players from facing Qatar in snooker Asian championships

CAIRO – 2 July 2017: The United Arab Emirates made the decision on June 30 to officially bans its snooker team from playing against Qatar in the Asian Championships held in Kyrgyzstan.

Mohammed Shehab, UAE team manager, made a statement to Emarat Al-Youm that the decision against facing Qatar “was a commitment and compliance with the country's political leadership in Doha."

Star player Shehab and team captain Abdul Rahman Al-Shamsi refused to play against Qatar's Ahmed Saif and Hassan Bukhshisha (respectively) in the second day of the Asian Champions League.

"The decision of the players to refuse to play against the Qatar players, comes in compliance with the directives of the senior leadership on the province of Qatar," remarked Shehab in a statement to Emarat Al-Youm.

"Certainly refusing to play either on personal level or at the level of my colleague Abdul Rahman Al- Shamsi came at the expense of the chance to reach the quarter-finals, but compliance with the state's direction is more important than any sports title," Shehab added.

The tournament will qualify teams for the Asian Nations Cup for professional players in Thailand at the end of the year.