Dubai: The World Body Building Championship to be held in Dubai in November will be a much bigger challenge before the Emirates Body Building Federation (EBBF).
"For us, the results we have obtained in Pattaya is the start of many more and bigger achievements coming our way," EBBF President Osama Al Shafar told Gulf News after arriving from Thailand on Wednesday.
Al Shafar, who is also the president of the Asian Body Building Federation (ABBF) and the World Body Building and Physique Sports Federation (WBPF), led the UAE squad with six golds and one silver medal at the 43rd Asian Men's Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships that concluded in Pattaya, Thailand on Monday.
"The future of the sport and our future as a sports loving country lies in a truly democratic and international body like the WBPF. We have won six gold medals and one silver at the Asian competition. This result can only mean we have to work even harder to achieve better success at the world championships here in November," Al Shafar promised.
After an ongoing tussle with the International Body Building Federation (IFBB), Al Shafar launched the new international body at the end of the ABBF Congress in Pattaya last Thursday. "Hopefully, this international body will give the sport of body building the right sense of direction. There is a lot of hard work to be done and we are ready for the challenges ahead," he vouched.
The new body has already announced the staging of the 1st WBPF Men's World Body Building Championships to be staged in Dubai from November 3-8 this year.
Al Shafar sees a bright future for the body. "Almost 55 countries have already resigned from their membership with the IFBB. We are targeting maximum number of members," he said.
Al Shafar admitted that the job of setting up a new body to govern the sport has been a challenge. "I never realised things would be so difficult, but I can assure you that we will rise to the challenge and take this sport to a completely new level in Asia and the world," he said.
The squad was received by top sports officials at the Dubai airport. Among them was Sultan Bin Mejren, President of the Emirates Weight Lifting Federation, Salem Saeed from the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare and Mohammad Juma Bin Hendi, Assistant General Secretary of the UAE National Olympic Committee.
