Abu Dhabi: The 17th edition of the sports festival during the Holy Month of Ramadan will be organised by the Armed Forces Officers Club (AFOC) between July 10-31.
The 17th Open Sports Festival will be held under the patronage of Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs.
Addressing a press conference at the AFOC premises on Monday evening, Retired Lieutenant-General Mohammad Hilal Al Kaabi, Head of the Higher Organising Committee, said that like in the past the festival will be open to all the nationalities and will feature 11 disciplines, including five for women.
“The Afoc Festival was held under the umbrella of Abu Dhabi Sports Council (ADSC) last year, with over 3,000 participants from 45 countries, and we expect it to be much bigger this year,” he said.
Salah Al Salomi, deputy chairman of the organising committee and director of the tournament, Fahad Ali Al Shamsi from ADSC and Mosabah Hamad Al Kaabi, general co-ordinator of championship are the other members of the Organising Committee (OC).
“The Festival keeps UAE nationals and expatriates busy and involved in healthy competitions during the Holy Month of Ramadan. Some of the top stars in the UAE and many international champions have participated in the past and will do so this year too,” Al Kaabi said.
“This year we have added archery (men and women) and Ironman (men) to the list. Football will once again be the main feature event (men and women) while there will be competitions in chess (men and women), tennis (men and women), judo (men and women), boxing (men), jiu-jitsu (men), bowling (men), shooting (men and women) and PlayStation (men).
“We will be giving away valuable prizes to spectators through free daily raffle draws. Everyone is welcome to enjoy the festival during the Holy Month of Ramadan,” said Al Kaabi.
Registration for various events begins on Saturday and entries close on July 7. Those interested can visit www.afocs.com for more details.
