Dubai: Shaikh Faisal Bin Humaid Al Qasimi, President, UAE Cycling Association (UAECA) is pushing for a regional competition to raise the standard of the sport in this part of the world.
"Countries like the UAE, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the other Gulf countries need to have regional competitions of their own so that we can raise the standard of the sport here. Only then will we be able to compete for medals against stronger countries such as Korea, Japan and Kazakhstan," Shaikh Faisal told Gulf News. Shaikh Faisal has already met with Asian Cycling Confederation President Cho Hee Wook to seek ways to promote cycling in the region. "There is a difference in the levels and standards among Asian nations. Hence we need to open doors for our riders, particularly for our women so that they can compete with the rest of Asia first. We need more competitions here and one of the things that can definitely help is the organisation of regional competitions," Shaikh Faisal stated. "The regional competition is just an idea at the moment. But once we get sanction from the ACC Congress, we can organise it even from next year [2011]."
