Doha: Gulf Cup organisers will officially announce early next week that the tournament will be played in Kuwait not Qatar after overcoming political and administrative obstacles, a senior official said on Saturday.

“We will officially announce it on Monday,” said Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation (AGCFF) general secretary Jassim al-Rumaihi.

The tournament has been plagued by problems. It was originally scheduled to take place in Kuwait last year, but that country’s football association was suspended by FIFA in October 2015 over alleged government meddling in sports.

After Kuwait’s suspension, the tournament was switched to World Cup 2022 host Qatar. Any hopes that would ensure the tournament would go ahead were dashed by the region’s worst political crisis in years.

A bitter dispute erupted on June 5 when Qatar was diplomatically isolated by a quartet of neighbouring countries including Saudi Arabi, UAE and Bahrain over alleged support for terrorist groups and Doha’s warming relations with Riyadh’s great regional rival, Shiite-dominated Iran. Qatar denies the allegations, but the dispute has now continued for more than six months.

In November, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain were “withdrawn” from the tournament after failing to respond to an invite to take part from the Doha-based AGCFF.

Since the current dispute began, the boycotting countries have cut all communication with Qatar. However a breakthrough came earlier this month when FIFA lifted Kuwait’s suspension after the national parliament adopted a law meant to end government interference in the sport.

Reuters