Dubai: Egypt and AS Roma forward Mohammad Saleh and new Fifa president Gianni Infantino top a star-studded list of guest speakers for the 11th Dubai International Sports Conference to be held at the Johara Ballroom in Madinat Jumeirah on December 27 and 28.
Also in attendance will be former Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o, Inter Milan legend Javier Zanetti, and ex England manager Fabio Capello; as well as Portugal’s Euro 2016 winning coach Fernando Santos, Sevilla’s three-in-a-row winning Europa League title-winning coach Unai Emery, and refereeing great Pierluigi Collina.
Former Sevilla striker Freddie Kanoute, who is now an ambassador for organisers Dubai Sports Council, was at a press conference to announce the names at Dubai Design District on Monday.
“Organising events like this puts Dubai on the map,” he said. “Everybody wants to come here because of the great events it holds.
“With all these big stars announced it’s good for Dubai to enjoy their presence. I’ve played against many of these names, including Samuel Eto’o. It will be great to see him in a few days.
“I have a good relationship with Dubai Sports Council and we are working together on many projects for the good of football development in the region, especially in Dubai.
“With this conference we aren’t just seeing football from a player’s perspective but also from the perspective of coaches and referees as a whole to try and promote all the work involved in football. This shows it is not just about what happens on the field but also what happens off it to allow you to enjoy the beautiful game.”
The two-day conference will look at governance in modern football with three sessions held daily separated by the Globe Soccer Awards on the evening of the first day, held at the same venue.
Saleh has been nominated for Arab Player of the Year alongside Leicester City’s Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez, and Juventus’ Moroccan defender Mehdi Benatia.
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who was recently awarded his fourth Ballon D’Or, is up for Player of the Year with Barcelona forward and five-time Ballon D’Or winning Lionel Messi, Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy, Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale, Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann and Juventus’ Gonzalo Higuain.
Santos and Emery will be up for Coach of the Year along with Leicester City’s Claudio Ranieri, Real Madrid’s Zinedine Zidane and Juventus’ Massimiliano Allegri. Club of the Year nominations have gone to Real Madrid, Leicester City, Sevilla, Molde and Legia Warsaw.
Asian Player of the Year award winner Omar Abdul Rahman of Al Ain and the UAE has a nomination for GCC Player of the Year with Saudi Arabia’s Yasser Al Shahrani and Oman’s Ali Al Habsi. GCC Club of the Year nods have gone to Asian Champions League losing finalists Al Ain, Saudi’s Al Hilal and Qatar’s Al Rayyan.
Elsewhere, English referee Mark Clattenburg, who will also be speaking at the conference, is up for Referee of the Year with Gambia’s Bakary Papa Gassama, Iran’s Ali Reza Faghani, Argentina’s Nestor Pitana and El Salvador’s Joel Antonio Aguilar.
