Dubai: Princess Haya Bint Al Hussain, wife of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, will be one of the core sports personalities involved in discussions at this year's SportAccord International Convention.
The convention will be held in Dubai at the end of this month.
A discussion on sport's role as a leader in sustainable development will be held on the second day of the convention and will attempt to highlight how the sporting community can continue being a leading catalyst for change to a greener and more sustainable planet.
Princess Haya, President of the Dubai Organising Committee for 2010 SportAccord Convention, President of the International Equestrian Federation and Member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has consented to be one of the specialists on the discussion panel.
Others on the panel will be Andrew Altman, chief executive of the Olympic Park Legacy Company; Thierry Borra, director of Olympic Games management at Coca-Cola Company, Jacqueline Rast, president of major programmes at CH2M HILL; and Jonathan Smith, chief executive officer of the Golf Environment Organisation. Ann Duffy, Vanoc's corporate sustainability officer, will be the moderator for the discussion.
Another hot topic for discussion on the second day of the convention will be ‘The autonomy of sport'.
Michael Barry Lenard, Paladin Realty Partners senior managing director, will be the moderator and will be joined by panellists Shaikh Ahmad Fahd Al Sabah, president of the Olympic Council of Asia and IOC member; Fifa President Joseph Sepp Blatter; Christophe de Kepper, International Olympic Committee chief of staff; Nawal Al Moutawakel, former Moroccan sports minister, chairwoman of the Rio 2016 Coordination Commission and IOC member. The first day of the convention will start with the official opening of the conference and introductions made by Hein Verbruggen, president of SportAccord.
New markets
The focus of the first day, however, will be on global and regional perspectives such as ‘The changing geography of sport' an examination of ‘big picture' issues for sport in some of the newest and largest global markets with an introduction from Mayor Eduardo Paes of Brazil which is hosting the 2016 Olympic Games.
The session will be moderated by Lenard. Panellists include Dmitry Chernyshenko, president and chief executive officer of Sochi2014 Organising Committee; Ma Guoli, chief executive officer and managing director of Infront Sports and Media, China; Peter Hutton, chief operating officer, Ten Sports, Taj TV Ltd; Carlos Arthur Nuzman, chief executive officer and president of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic Games; and Sam Ramsamy, an IOC member from South Africa.
‘Sport in the Middle East' a discussion on the dynamic and fast-growing market for sports in the region will have Rebecca McLaughlin, Dubai One television presenter, as the moderator.
