Dubai: The National Olympic Committee (NOC) general assembly has elected unopposed as president Shaikh Ahmad Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum for the current period until the Olympic Games in London in 2012.
Abdul Rahman Mohammad Al Owais, Minister of Culture and President of the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare (GAYSW), who attended the general assembly, thanked the former NOC President Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum and other board members.
The NOC general assembly accepted the apology of Shaikh Rashid Bin Mohammad Al Maktoum who was elected NOC president last September but could not continue for personal reasons.
Al Owais said that Shaikh Ahmad will be an excellent addition for the NOC and UAE sports in general. "The NOC will enter a new era with the chairmanship of Shaikh Ahmad who is a sportsman and he is present in the sports field," said Al Owais.
"The NOC new board was elected in last September with the presidency of Shaikh Rashid Bin Mohammad who apologised due to his commitments and personal circumstances.
"Due to that, the NOC board of directors didn't meet for the last few months and the general assembly had to hold an emergency meeting to elect a new president and they elected unanimously Shaikh Ahmad Bin Mohammad. We hope with the presence of Shaikh Ahmad and the NOC board members to develop the youth, sports in the country will achieve great success in the coming period."
The NOC's new board of directors will hold its first meeting in the coming days to distribute the posts among the members.
Shaikh Ahmad will name four dignitaries who served in the sports field on the NOC board. Shaikh Majid Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman, Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, will be the first vice-president of the board and Yousuf Al Sarkal, former FA board chairman, will be the second vice-president. Mohammad Abdul Karim Julfar, the Volleyball Association chairman, will be the main candidate for the NOC general secretary replacing Ebrahim Abdul Malek, the GAYSW general secretary.
