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UAE supports boycott of all UIM activities
Watersports associations in the UAE have voted for the boycott of all Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM)-sanctioned activities in the country.
- By Alaric Gomes, Senior Reporter
- Published: 23:39 December 10, 2008
Dubai: Watersports associations in the UAE have voted for the boycott of all Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM)-sanctioned activities in the country.
Ahmad Al Rumaithi and Scott Gillman from the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club (ADIMSC) met with Saeed Hareb and Sid Bin Selah of the Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) to endorse an earlier decision to ban the hosting of all events sanctioned by the UIM, the world governing body for watersports.
Mohammad Ali Al Noman, Director General of the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA), organisers of the UIM F1 Championship, expressed his inability to attend the meeting due to a prior commitment. "But we spoke and he told me that he is totally backing any decision that we may take in the interest of the sport," Saeed Hareb told Gulf News.
Also absent from the meeting was Ahmad Ebrahim, the representative of the Fujairah Marine Sports Club, as he is out of the country.
"We believe that we have valid reasons to call from this unilateral boycott of all events sanctioned by the UIM within the UAE," Hareb said after the meeting. "We have submitted a proposal to the UAE Marine Sports Federation [UAEMSF], who in turn will be sending in an official communication to the UIM asking for an explanation on the course of events that have taken place recently," Hareb said.
"The UIM has till January 15 to come up with the answers, failing which all national associations within the country will disassociate from the UIM," Hareb said.
This is not the first time that watersports within the UAE has been plagued by an alleged lack of application by senior officials of the UIM. In 2006, a "convenient interpretation" of Class One rules by a senior UIM official, led Hareb to successfully form the World Professional Powerboat Association (WPPA).
The UIM and WPPA came together at the end of last season following the election of Raffael Chiulli as the president of the world governing body. However, earlier this year the UIM rejected a proposal from the ADIMSC to promote and run an F2000 championship.
This weekend's Emirates/Dubai Duty Free Grand Prix - the eighth and final round on the 2008 calendar - will be the last UIM-sanctioned event taking place on UAE waters.
'Worst crisis': Promoter worried
Nicolo di San Germano, the F1 promoter, has termed the on-going tussle between the Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) and the world body for watersports, the UIM, as "the worst crisis" being faced by the sport in the past two decades.
"I have known Saeed Hareb for more than 20 years and have the greatest respect for him as he has raised the profile in the UAE to the highest professional level, and the sport has benefitted greatly from his hard work," San Germano has said in a statement issued at yesterday's press conference for the Sharjah Grand Prix.
"I sincerely hope the UAE associations can resolve their differences with the UIM to enable the sport to move forward in a professional manner," the statement added.
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