Dubai: The UAE Athletics Federation (UAE AF) president has reiterated his call to the private sector in “springing a surprise” by backing upcoming athletes in the country.
Athletes from the UAE have come up with solid performances in the week gone by with the duo of Alia Saeed Mohammad and Betlhem Desalegn returning with four medals – three of these gold – from the 21st Asian Athletics Championships in Wuhan earlier this week.
Juniors Fatima Al Hossani and Alia Al Hammadi won silver medals in the discus throw and high jump at the Arab Junior Athletics held in Tunisia last week, while Al Nasr Club’s Naseeb Salmeen re-wrote the UAE record in the men’s 100m with a time of 10.17 secs during last week’s President’s Cup.
“And here we are asking the private sector to back us. We need their assistance. No doubt, the UAE Government has backed us at every stage, but it is just right that the private sector too comes forward and lend us some sort of assistance. I would want to see them springing a surprise on us and telling us they want to assist,” Ahmad Al Kamali, UAE AF President, told Gulf News.
“This support from the private sector need not be about money. It can be absolutely anything as long as we have the feeling that our athletes have this boost that they are justified in bringing glory to the UAE. Besides this can also be a great opportunity for the private sector to give back something to the UAE,” he added.
Al Kamali has every reason to be pleased with the progress being made by the UAE athletes. While Alia and Desalegn confirmed their places by winning in Wuhan earlier this week, Al Nasr youngster Salmeen made it through a qualifying best of 10.17 secs in the men’s 100m for the IAAF World Championships in Beijing in August. “Alia is among the top-ten long distance runners in the world at the moment and Betty [Desalegn] is getting back into shape. So having three athletes in Beijing is something we can all be proud of,” Al Kamali said.
“The future is bright. We need to pay due attention to these athletes while also encouraging the juniors to achieve their targets and progress through the ranks,” he added.
