Dubai: Apart from being a business hub for the Middle East, the UAE is leading the region in many areas.
Perhaps none more so than in sport, where it has steadily established itself as a centre for top-class competitions.
Today, it can boast of a rich portfolio of high-profile events that encompass football, rugby, tennis, golf, cricket, horse racing, Formula One racing, powerboat racing, swimming, shooting and more.
Strategic government interest, and investment, has had a positive impact on helping build the UAE's reputation as a whole and events like the Dubai World Cup, the world's richest horse race; the lucrative European Tour's Race To Dubai and Dubai World Championships and the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix have ensured that the country stays ahead of the game.
World-class venues
To prop up its sporting vision the government has committed itself to building world-class sporting venues like the state-of-the-art Meydan Racecourse, the ultra-modern Yas Marina Formula One circuit built on the man-made island off the Abu Dhabi coast and Dubai Sports City, a sweeping multi-purpose facility spread over 50,000,000 square feet.
These large-scale initiatives have further bolstered the country's sporting image and helped preserve its position as the leading centre for sporting excellence in the region.
But when did it all begin?
Perhaps during a run of the mill rugby match played over 40 years ago between a bunch of British expatriates.
The year was 1970 and the setting a modest sandy rugby pitch in the Al Aweer area.
With a handful of fans watching the Staffordshire Regiment won the event and were crowned champion of a tournament that would go on to carve a niche for itself in the UAE and international sporting calendar as the Dubai Rugby Sevens.
From its humble beginnings, the tournament has grown to be one of the showcase sporting events that the country stages annually and one that draws a world record crowd of over 50,000 spectators to the two-day extravaganza.
During the late 1980s, Dubai staged the Snooker Classic where Neal Foulds beat the legendary Steve Davis in the final in 1998.
Foulds is now a commentator for the BBC, Sky Sports and British Eurosport.
Sporting explosion
These two events would be the catalyst for the UAE's sporting explosion.
In 1993 big-time tennis came to Dubai in the form of the ATP Tour's Dubai Tennis Championships where the Czech Republic's Karel Novacek won the inaugural title.
Its success led to the introduction of the women's tournament in 2001 with Swiss great Martina Hingis being crowned the inaugural champion.
Prior to that, the first Dubai Desert Classic professional golf tournament was played at the now world-famous Emirates Golf Club with Englishman Mark James being the first golfer to lift the gold Claret Jug.
Memorable triumphs
The tournament has gone on to attract some of the biggest stars in the world of golf with golfing greats like Ernie Els, Tiger Woods and Greg Norman all recording memorable triumphs.
Sports do not merely reflect or enhance the economic capabilities of a country, but they more importantly play a big role in helping build its image.
The UAE's commitment to sport was further proven with the introduction of the Dubai World Cup thoroughbred horse race in 1996 and the iconic Meydan Racecourse that it went on to inspire.
Today, the Dubai World Cup meeting boasts nine prestigious races and a record prize fund of over $27 million (Dh99 million).
Sponsorship: Major deals
- Emirates airline: Sponsors of Arsenal, Real Madrid, Paris St Germain; Olympiakos FC, AC Milan, Hamburger SV; sailing team Emirates Team New Zealand; official partners of Fifa & ICC; Rugby World Cup and sponsors of Dubai World Cup horseracing and Dubai Rugby Sevens.
- Etihad Airways: Sponsors of Manchester City Football Club; title sponsors of Etihad Airways F1 Grand Prix.
- Dubai Duty Free: Owners & organisers of Dubai Tennis Championship (ATP & WTA); sponsors of leading international horseracing events.
- Dubal: Sponsors of Dubai Desert Classic, Dubai Ladies Masters.
- Emirates NBD: Official bank of Dubai Ladies Masters & Dubai Desert Classic; Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge; sponsors of Dubai Exiles Rugby Club.
TIMELINE: Making history
1980: Al Wasl Stadium is officially opened.
- Shaikh Zayed Sports City is inaugurated in Abu Dhabi.
1982: UAE bowler Mohammad Khaja wins the 4th Gulf Tenpin Bowling Championship in Bahrain.
1983: Abdul Aziz Al Hakim and Abdullah Kareem win gold in the doubles event at the 4th Arab Gulf Bowling Championship held in Dubai.
1984: Nadia Mohammad Saleh wins the women's title and Saeed Ahmad Saeed the men's in the Arab Chess Championship in Dubai
1987: Mansour Abdullah wins the under-16 Arab World Youth Chess Championship held in Sharjah.
- UAE rally driver Mohammad Bin Sulayem wins the Emirates International Rally held in Dubai
- Fareeda Abdul Karim picks up the gold medal at the Dubai Olympiad
1988: Emirates Golf course is officially opened.
1990: The UAE football team qualifies for the Fifa World Cup in Italy.
1993: Mohammad Bin Sulayem wins the Dubai International Rally, making a hat-trick of victories
- Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club is inaugurated by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
1994: Al Saeed Mohammad Abdul Rahim takes gold at the Arab Juniors Chess Championship in Doha, Qatar.
1996: The Dubai Tennis stadium is officially inaugurated.
- The UAE makes its debut in the cricket World Cup.
- Dubai hosts the world's richest horse race, the $4 million (Dh14.6 million) Dubai World Cup.
1997: Khuwaiter Saeed Al Dari creates two new Gulf records by winning gold in the 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle in the 9th GCC tournament in Muscat.
1998: Khalfan Hareb and Mohammad Al Gaith of Victory Team win the UIM Class One World Offshore Championship in the Italian Grand Prix.
- UAE International Master and Dubai chess club player Talib Mousa clinches the Chess President's Cup championship for the first time.
1999: The Victory Team's Saeed Al Tayer and Felix Serralles smash the 257km/h barrier as they storm to a new world record in the Pole Position competition of the Norwegian Grand Prix in Arendal.
- Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Shaikh Rashid Bin Mohammad Al Maktoum, and Abdullah Bel Hab clinch the European Open Endurance team championship in Spain.
- UAE chess player Fatima Hussain takes gold medal at the 9th Pan Arab Games held in Jordan.
2000: The UAE cricket team wins the ACC Trophy.
- The UAE football team wins the LG Cup 2000 after defeating Kuwait 1-0 at the Al Nasr Stadium
2001: Shaikh Mohammad leads the UAE team to gold in the European Open Endurance.
- Omar Behroozian wrests the GCC singles tennis title from Kuwaiti top Saeed Mohammad Al Garib. 2002: Shaikh Ahmad Bin Mohammad Al Maktoum wins the World Endurance Championship in Spain.
2003: Shaikh Mohammad wins the 160km European Open Championship in Punchestown, Ireland.
- Shaikh Ahmad Mohammad Hasher Al Maktoum wins his second World Cup gold medal in the double-trap competition in Italy.
2004: Shaikh Ahmad becomes the UAE's first Olympic gold medalist in double-trap shooting in Athens.
- Shaikha Maitha Bint Mohammad Al Maktoum gives the UAE its first karate gold in the 10th Pan Arab Games.
- Dubai Sports City is launched.
2006: Mohammad Salem Abdullah Zahmi wins gold in the 65-kilogram body building event at the Asian Games in Doha.
2007: The UAE football team beats Oman to win the Gulf Cup.
- Shaikha Maitha Bint Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum becomes the first Arab woman to receive the prestigious World Fair Play Award.
- UAE's sailors Sayed Al Zaydi and Adil Khalid return home with two individual gold and one team bronze in in the Pan Arab Games.
2009: The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the first day-night race is held at the Yas Marina Circuit on November 1.
- UAE sprinter Omar Juma Al Sulfa becomes the fastest man in the region after winning the 100-metre race at the GCC Athletics Championships in Qatif, Saudi Arabia.
2010: The Dh10-billion historic Meydan grandstand and racecourse is inaugurated in Dubai.
- Shaikha Latifa Al Maktoum makes the country proud, as she clinches the silver medal in equestrian jumping at the 16th Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China.
- The UAE's Omar Juma Al Sulfa won a historic track and field bronze medal in the men's 200-metres 16th Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China.
- The UAE football team wins silver at the 16th Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China.
- Dubai Sports Complex, a multi-purpose stadium situated off Dubai Bypass Road on a sprawling 61 acres of land, is inaugurated.
- Abu Dhabi hosts the Fifa Club World Cup. Inter Milan beat TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo to win the cup on December 19, 2010.
2011: The UAE win two athletics gold medals in the second GCC Women's Games as Saeeda Al Nabi takes the javelin title and Ahlam Saeed bags gold in the 400m event at the Armed Forces Physical Training Stadium.
- Shaikha Maitha Bint Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Honorary President of the UAE Taekwando and Karate Federation, is installed as an accredited coach by the World Karate Federation.
- Haya Sameer Juma takes gold at the WKF Youth World Cup Individual Kata and Kumite and Training Camp held in Loutraki, Greece
- Hassan Hamad Al Hammadi hands the UAE its first gold medal on the penultimate day of the 2011 International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports (IWAS) World Junior Games at the Dubai Police Officers Club.
