DOHA (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain will not take part in a Qatar-hosted football tournament for Arab nations scheduled for next month after missing a deadline to confirm their participation, organisers said on Friday. The three countries cut ties with Qatar in June, including banning their citizens from visiting the fellow Gulf Arab state, over accusations that Qatar supports terrorism. The Gulf Nations Cup, which is held every two years and rotates location, usually involves Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain as well as this year's hosts Qatar, and Kuwait, Iraq, Oman and Yemen. The three missing Gulf countries "did not confirm their participation in the tournament and did not respond to the letters sent to them by the Secretariat with a Nov. 13 deadline," Jasim al-Rumehi, Secretary-General of the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation (AGCFF), said in a statement. Last month the UAE Football Association’s president, denying that his country’s boycott was related to the crisis between Gulf states, said the tournament should not go ahead unless Kuwait's ban was lifted.

Source: The Star November 17, 2017 16:30 UTC