Dubai: German football legend and Chairman of Bayern Munich Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is the first among an array of football stars confirmed for the Tenth Dubai International Sports Conference to be held at the end of this month.
Held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council (DSC), the event has been scheduled to be organized this year at the Madinat Jumeirah Hotel on December 27-28.
This year’s edition has the theme “Challenges and Achievements in Football” and Rummenigge is to deliver the keynote address on the opening day. The 60-year-old German legend, who is currently chairman of Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, will speak on the challenges facing global football and the measures that can be adopted to ensure the legitimacy of the game.
“It is indeed an honour for us to have a legend like Karl-Heinz Rummenigge among the first to confirm for our annual event,” Mohammad Al Kamali, Head of the Organising Committee, told Gulf News.
“Each year we try to bring in something new to this event that attracts some of the best minds from the world of football. This year, we wanted someone who has the versatility of being a top-notch player and an administrator. The topic he has chosen to speak on is also so appropriate,” he added.
Nicknamed ‘King Kalle’, Rummenigge had his greatest career success with Bayern Munich, where he won the Intercontinental Cup, the European Cup and two league titles. A member of the West Germany national team, Rummenigge won the European Championship in 1980 and was part of the team that finished runners-up at the 1982 Fifa World Cup and the 1986 World Cup. In addition, he was awarded with the ‘European Footballer of the Year’ on two occasions.
Between 1976 and 1986, Rummenigge amassed 95 caps for the national team, scoring 45 goals, including one in the final of the 1986 Fifa World Cup.
Besides being the chairman of Bayern Munich, Rummenigge is also the chairman of the European Club Association. At the end of his career, in 1984, the German was sold to Inter Milan, but he made the switch to Swiss first division club Servette FC, Geneva to end of his career in 1989.
“Today Dubai is known worldwide as the sporting capital and to have such top sportspersons visiting our country is indeed an honour. Our goal is to bring only the best to Dubai while also contributing to the overall growth of sport,” Al Kamali said.
“Our leaders have shown us the direction that we need to take as a country. Sport today is such an important tool and it is our ambition to see only the best things happening here,” he added.
Cristiano Ronaldo and James Rodriguez were among the stars as Real Madrid picked up seven of the total 15 awards on offer at the annual gala dinner awards held alongside the conference.
