Dubai: The newly-merged Al Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club foresees a bright future for itself in terms of its youth development programme having received its official trade licence.
Khalifa Saeed Sulaiman, Director General, Dubai Protocol and Hospitality Department, officially confirmed the completion of the process to forge a new identity for the merged club through a new logo and trade licence from the Department of Economic Development (DED). As per the new dictat, the new club has obtained permission to conduct eight commercial activities linked to sports.
“This is an important step in the new identity of our youth system, not just for this new club but for the development of an entire sports sector,” Sulaiman told media during the official release of the club’s new logo.
“The trade licence from Department of Economic Development for the new club under the name ‘Al Shabab Al Ahli Dubai’ also entitles us with the right to practice eight commercial activities, including marketing, merchandising and organising events. One of the sole purposes of taking this path is to launch the investment arm of the new club to ensure the desired independence in the foreseeable future as per the directives of Shaikh Mohammad,” he added.
On May 16, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, issued a decree ordering the merger of the three Dubai clubs. Shaikh Mohammad said that the decision had been made to develop a club that could compete well regionally and globally. In due course, a provisional logo and strip had also been drawn up as the identity for the new club.
Former Al Ahli manager Cosmin Olaroiu, the coach of the new club, left with his squad of players from all three clubs earlier this week for their overseas training camp.
The new club had already completed the registration process required by the Pro League Committee (PLC) from the UAE Football Association (UAE FA).
“This important step in the history of the club has been taken only after we had obtained the necessary permission from Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, in his capacity as the Chairman of the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare [GAYSW]. Now we need to officially intimate and notify all other clubs and sports bodies about our new name,” Sulaiman said.
“For us, this is perhaps one of the most important dates as the adoption of the new name and the registration will be an important and promising step in opening out the vision of the newly-merged club,” he added.
