Dubai: Thursday marks the seven-week countdown to what promises to be one of the city's favourite sporting and social events.
The hugely popular Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens kicks off on December 3, with this year not only being a celebration of 40 years of the tournament, but also the fact that the sport of rugby sevens has been included in the Olympic programme for 2016.
Massive growth
The decision by the IOC to include Sevens in the Olympics is testament to the massive growth in the sport in recent years. And Dubai has played a significant part in this development.
Last year's world record-breaking crowds of 50,000 per day at the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens would certainly have caught the IOC's attention, as did the Rugby World Cup Sevens, also hosted by Dubai in March this year. That tournament made history in that it included 16 international women's teams for the first time.
"This is very exciting for the sport of Rugby Sevens," said Gary Chapman, President Group Services and Dnata, Emirates Group.
"We are honoured that ours will be the first major Sevens tournament to be played following this decision. "I am certain that the popularity of this year's Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens will go to show that the IOC made the right decision and that Rugby Sevens deserves its place at the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016," added Chapman.
The 16 international teams that will be competing in Dubai have been confirmed and defending champions South Africa, will once again be hoping to get their IRB Sevens World Series off to the best possible start with victory in Dubai. The Springboks face men's Sevens World Champions Wales, as well as Australia and the hosts Arabian Gulf, in Pool A.
Former world champions Fiji line up as second seeds in Pool B and face the team that beat them to take gold at the recent Mini Pacific Games, Samoa, as well as the Namibia Sevens finalists Zimbabwe and Scotland.
Tickets for the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens 2009 are still on sale at The Sevens ground on the Al Ain Road, Emirates headquarters, the Dnata Travel Centre on Shaikh Zayed Road and Costa and MMI outlets as well as online through www.dubairugby7s.com and by calling Ticketline on 800 4669.
The Costa outlets where tickets are on sale are: Mall of the Emirates, Dubai Mall, Festival City and Al Wahda Mall, Abu Dhabi and the MMI outlets where they are available are: Al Wasl Road, Ibn Battuta, Mall of the Emirates and Shaikh Zayed Road. The public is reminded that a valid licence is required to enter any MMI outlet. Corporate packages and reserved seating are also available through the tournament website.
