Dubai: Mohammad Al Habtoor wants next month's inaugural Dubai Polo Gold Cup to be on par with the best sporting events in the UAE.
"That's the motive and it is a promise that we will keep," Al Habtoor told Gulf News in an exclusive chat on Monday.
The Dubai Polo Gold Cup, sponsored by Threadneedle, will be held at the Dubai Polo and Equestrian Club from March 6-12. This will be a 10-12 goal open handicap tournament with six top teams from Chile, England, Saudi Arabia and the UAE confirmed for the event.
"Some of the best sporting events such as the Dubai World Cup, the Barclays tennis, the Desert Classic golf and the rugby 7s are held here during the year. We saw this huge potential of having a polo competition of a similar stature in order to fulfil a need of the polo fraternity here," Al Habtoor added.
He also hoped that such an event would brush aside the negative publicity that the region has drawn following the economic slowdown in recent months. "The media tends to concentrate on the negatives. But with the Dubai Polo Gold Cup we will have something positive to show the world," he stated.
"The normal perception abroad is that Dubai is no longer a happening place. But when people come here they see a bustling city full of life in all spheres and they are amazed. We want people to come and see what is actually taking place here," the chief patron insisted.
Al Habtoor wanted a level playing field, and with this in mind, each of the participating teams will be able to bring in their own horses for the tournament. "Normally even the best of teams complain that they lose because of the standard of horses. But this time they have the option of bringing in their own horses," he said.
Agreement
And the fact remains that Al Habtoor does not want to stop here. He has already signed a three-year agreement with main sponsor Threadneedle an investment company fully-owned by Ameriprise Financial, a publicly quoted company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
"We do not want to stop with just one tournament as we already have teams lined up for the next two years," Al Habtoor stated.
