Dubai: The year 2011 will be a busy one for sports lovers but amid all the action two important events — the 2011 International Cricket Council World Cup and 2011 Rugby World Cup — will dominate.
Excitement for both events is already running high. For cricket it will be the tenth edition of the World Cup being hosted by three nations: India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. For Bangladesh it will be a special event because it is the first time this nation will have co-hosted a World Cup.
The action will commence at Bangladesh's Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur with India taking on Bangladesh on February 19.
Fourteen countries will battle for the ultimate glory in the game in 49 matches. Pakistan was among the co-hosts of the World Cup but was stripped of its rights to host the event due to security situation in their country.
This World Cup is of great significance as many believe that this edition will end the reign of Australia, who have emerged as world champions consistently in the past three editions.
The champions of the World Cup can win prize money of $4 milllion (Dh14.7 million). The teams have been divided into two groups. Group A is made up of Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada, Kenya while Group B comprise Bangladesh, England, India, South Africa, West Indies, Ireland and Netherlands. The final will be held at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 2.
For rugby, it will be the seventh edition of the World Cup. New Zealand was selected as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa.
For New Zealand it will be the largest sporting event to be held in their country and more than 70,000 visitors are expected to watch the action live.
The matches will commence September 10 with the final scheduled for October 23 at the Eden Park in Auckland.
The World Cup will be contested by 20 teams. Argentina. Australia, England, Fiji, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, Tonga and Wales are the 12 teams that qualified for the World Cup by finishing in the top three of their group in the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
Canada, Georgia, Japan, Namibia, Russia, Samoa, United States and Romania are the eight teams that qualified through the regional qualifying competitions.
Interestingly, soccer will catch the attention of sports lovers in this region right from the start of the year. Qatar will host the 2011 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup finals from January 7.
It will be fifteenth edition of the tournament and Qatar is hosting his event for the second time since 1988.
The clash for supremacy in this tournament, which is held every four years, is of great importance as the team that lifts the Asian Cup will become not only the champion of Asia but also automatically qualifies for the FIFA Confederations Cup.
Qatar won the bid to host the event on July 29, 2007 during the 2007 AFC Asian Cup in Indonesia.
As per the FIFA rules the confederation events must be held either during January or July so considering the hot temperature in Qatar during July it was decided to host the event in the first month of the year.
The participating nations are hosts Qatar, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Iran, Uzbekistan, China, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Syria, Kuwait, India and North Korea.
The action will commence from January 7 with Qatar taking on Uzbekistan in the first game at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha.
The final is scheduled for January 29.
