Champions' arena

It was a few months before my arrival in Dubai, back in 2003, that I remember a particular picture of Tiger Woods getting splashed on the front pages of sports sections of newspapers around the world — the iconic shot of the then world’s number one golfer teeing off from the terrace of the magnificent Burj Al Arab hotel. The Dubai Desert Classic was already a well-known stop on the European Tour, the Dubai Tennis Championships were more than a decade old while the Dubai Rugby Sevens was yet another marquee event with a huge fan base of its own. The Dubai World Cup, the richest horse racing event in the world, had been running since 1996 and was a class apart.
As a newcomer to Dubai, however, that particular shot of Woods struck me as an example of how well the city had leveraged a sporting event to promote itself to the world. Spectacular events, along with world-class infrastructure in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, has played a part in making the UAE one of the most vibrant sporting hubs in the Middle East.

Pacing itself for success
One may argue that a number of other countries in the region are charting the same road map towards success — with Qatar pulling off with a coup by winning the bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup last year. The UAE, on its part, plans to do one better by gunning for the Summer Olympics. Last July it opted to pull out of a possible bid for the 2020 showpiece, deciding to concentrate its energies for a more worthwhile bid for the 2024 Games. While a bid for the Olympics is somewhat like reaching for the skies — and whose outcome is something over which one has little control — it’s worthwhile to focus on what the UAE has achieved in the sporting arena and the pace at which it has done it. With the country’s ability to host world-class events established beyond doubt, the last five years or so has seen a quantum leap in terms of infrastructure — reinforcing the belief that sports is key to boosting a country’s image.

Multidisciplinary approach
The Dubai Sports City, a project born of a dream to host a major multi-discipline extravaganza in the future, was one of the first such initiatives. It’s been three years since one element of the complex, the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, became fully operational, but the vision of having one complex with a range of disciplines such as football, athletics, hockey, golf and swimming among other things, is yet to be fully realised.
However, since the stadium’s completion six years ago, Dubai has enjoyed the status of being the headquarters of cricket — with the red brick building of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and its global cricket academy tucked away inside the Sports
City complex.
Meydan, home to the Dubai World Cup for the past two years, is literally one of a kind. The brainchild of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the project took shape within two years and stands out as a heady combination of sport, hospitality and business opportunities.
There has been another welcome addition — the Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Sports Complex — a world-class indoor water sports facility. Barely into a year of existence, it has already held two Fina World Cup events and is most well-equipped to take care of aquatic events should the UAE be ever awarded a major multidisciplinary game.

Abu Dhabi’s record act
Abu Dhabi, which has had the Zayed Sports City for many years now, made the world sit up and take note when it became a Formula One venue in 2009. The Yas Marina track, with its package of added attractions such as Ferrari World, has become a fantastic addition on the Formula One calendar.
But that was not the only thing that Abu Dhabi did in the last few years. The last two winters saw a bonanza for sport in the UAE capital when on the back of the Formula One GP, it hosted the FIFA Club World Cup and the Mubadala Tennis Championships, the latter ensuring that tennis lovers in the capital ushered in the new year in style. Come the last week of the year and the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will grace the courts for this high-profile exhibition.
When it comes to the sporting heritage of the UAE, the old does not necessarily have to give way for the new — rather, they complement each other. This year hence, marked a resurrection of sorts for the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, where international cricket returned after a gap of eight years. It found its rightful place in the Guinness Book of World Records for hosting the highest number of one-day Internationals (201) when sentimental favourites Pakistan played Sri Lanka last month.
The UAE therefore continues to be a one-stop hub for sporting activities in the Middle East. One can only speculate about the strides the country will take and what more will be on offer when it celebrates its golden jubilee ten years from now. I for one can’t wait.