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AIR traffic controllers and pilots will be trying to keep the ball on the ground and play it to the wings when they set out for football glory in Bahrain next week.
They will be touching down from Dubai, Muscat, Dammam and Kuwait and joining their colleagues in Bahrain for an inaugural seven-a-side soccer tournament.
Tackles are sure to be flying in as staff members from Gulf Air, Bahrain Air and DHL join in the action. There will be 10 teams competing on the artificial pitches at the National Stadium in Isa town on November 8-9 for the Middle East Controllers and Pilots Cup.
Organiser Al Beattie, 44, who lives in Saar with his family, is an air traffic controller in Bahrain with SERCO IAL Ltd. The former semi-professional footballer who plays in defence, said: "Our objective is to promote and develop social and professional relationships between pilots and air traffic controllers in the region."
The tournament is a spin-off to a successful football tournament in Europe for air traffic controllers, which has been held every year since 1968 and it is a major event on the social calendar brining together around 1,000 air traffic controllers from across Europe as well as a couple of teams from the US.
As there are fewer air traffic units in the Middle East, the tournament in Bahrain has been opened to pilots as well.
Subject to the success of the event, other regional airlines will be invited to join in the action in the future. Etihad and Abu Dhabi Airport Tower staff members were due to participate but had to withdraw due to other commitments however, both have expressed a willingness to attend next year.
