The opening ceremony took place on Sunday at Cairo International Stadium, with the presence of Egypt president Mohamed Hosni Mubarak and other Arab leaders.

However, Al-Jazeera claimed that reporters from the Qatari network encountered problems while granting license cards for covering the event.

The report also mentioned that the top Arab event is facing other technical setbacks after a number of teams forfeited the tournament.

Three Handball teams pulled out of the men's competition, while the women's Basketball competition has been cancelled due to the shortage in number of teams.