Turkish Sports Minister Mehmet Kasapoğlu met with Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, head of the UAE General Authority of Sport and vice-president of the UAE National Olympic Committee (NOC) in Konya in Turkey.

The meeting took place on Sunday (August 14) during the Konya 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games which Turkey and the UAE are both competing in.

According to the UAE NOC, Kasapoğlu and Al Falasi talked about ways to strengthen the bilateral partnership between Turkey and the UAE and looked at how they can build closer sporting ties.

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The UAE NOC said holding major sporting events in the two counties was among the topics discussed as they look to take advantage of existing infrastructure and facilities available.

As well as committing to the success of the Islamic Solidarity Games, Al Falasi invited Kasapoğlu to visit the UAE during the inaugural Gulf Youth Games next year.

It was proposed by Al Falasi that the UAE and Turkey sign a Memorandum of Understanding on sports cooperation at the time of the Games.

Saeed Thani Hareb Al Dhaheri, UAE Ambassador to Turkey, Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Hussein, secretary general of the UAE General Body of Sports, and Azza Bint Suleiman, assistant general secretary for Administrative and Financial Affairs of the UAE NOC, were also present at the meeting.