Organisers promise meeting of two worlds

Dubai: Organisers Dubai Sports Council (DSC) are confident of bringing together the best of two worlds when the first-ever Peace and Sport Dubai Forum is held here later this month.

“Dubai has always been at the forefront of innovations in every field and this will be the first stop in the Middle East for the Peace and Sport Forum. We are keen to see personalities from the sporting world and the political world come together on a common platform so that we can lead by example in being an oasis of peace and harmony,” Dr. Ahmad Sa’ad Al Sharif, General Secretary, DSC told Gulf News.

“For the entire world, Dubai is a prime example for peace and harmony with so many different nationalities and cultures co-existing for so many years now. And at the core is the use of sports in our communities to bring these varied cultures together,” he added.

The Peace and Sport Forum will be held at the JW Marriott Marquis on April 23-24 under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of DSC.

Using society as the grass-roots, the Peace and Sport Forum seeks to raise awareness among political decision-makers about the potential of sport to act as a powerful vehicle for peace while encouraging international sports movements to make a contribution to peace.

Established in 2007 by Joel Bouzou with its headquarters in Monaco, Peace and Sport has already set up regional offices in Washington and Beijing while also mulling plans to have a third office set up in Dubai immediately after this forum concludes.

Since its establishment, the Peace and Sport Forum was held in Monaco, but was last year shifted to Sochi in Russia. Dubai is the first-ever venue for this prestigious event out of Europe.

The Peace and Sport’s “Champions For Peace” is one of the successes of this forum with former and current champion sportspersons getting involved in fostering the ideals of peace around the globe.

Tennis stars such as Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Aisam Ul Haq Qureshi and Rohan Bopanna, top athletic champions such as Sergey Bubka, Wilson Kipketer, Yelena Isinbayeva, Tegla Loroupe, Hichal l Guerrouj, Frankie Fredericks, Dick Fosbury are some of the big names associated with the forum.

“For Dubai it will be an honour to have such famous faces from the field of sport and when we combine this with some of the well-known political figures from the region, it will be a real culmination of minds to bring about a better world with peace as the centre,” Dr. Al Sharif said.