Dubai: Dubai’s march towards being the best-known sporting city in the world took another bold step with the launch of an innovative Sports Events Ranking System on Tuesday.
All sporting events in Dubai will now get an evaluation done followed by a ranking that will determine the solidity of the competition or championship on a scale of one to ten.
The Dubai Sports Council (DSC) held a one-day conference on the ‘Sports Events Ranking System’ on Tuesday moderated by Rashid Al Kamali from the council along with project leader Hessa Al Kous and Lars Haue-Pedersen, Managing Director, TSE Consulting, the Swiss-based partners of the project.
Held in keeping with Decree 11 of 2009 issued by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the new initiative is meant to further empower the DSC in approving, monitoring and supervising sporting events.
As per the time-frame set out, sports event organising companies and individuals are required to register their events and competitions before September 1. After this deadline, all events will get a ranking based on set criteria of rules and regulations that have been laid down by the elite panel of judges.
“This initiative is meant to reward events that are helping Dubai in its march towards progress and prosperity as the best modern city in the world,” Haue-Pedersen told Gulf News.
“Dubai has been witnessing tremendous amounts of energy in all spheres and it is only right for us to help all stake-holders to channel this energy in the right direction. At the same time it will be a huge learning curve for sports event organisers as they stand to learn from each other and further raise the profile of the city,” he added.
Besides its consultative role for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, TSE Consulting is presently helping out several cities around the globe including some in Turkey on ways to use sport better in their promotion. “At the end of the event, every city wants to know if it was money well spent. But there is a new dimension in conducting events now and this basically focuses on progress, development and evaluation,” Haue-Pedersen said.
Dr Ahmad Sa’ad Al Sharif, General-Secretary, DSC, was convinced the timing of the initiative was spot-on. “Today Dubai is an international sporting brand while being the sports capital of the Middle East. We do not want to stop here. Just like our leaders have the ambition to see the rise of Dubai as the best in the world, we want this city to be known as they sporting capital of the world,” he said.
