Dubai: As the reigning president of the UAE Volleyball Association (UAE VA), Amer Ali feels he and his board members have done enough in the past two years to merit a second successive term in office.
"The establishment of the FiVB Beach Volleyball Centre, the right to host the 17th Asian Men's Volleyball Championships next year and a steady improvement in the standard of the game in the UAE are among the few top achievements to the name of the existing board of directors. I think we need a second term in office so that we can fulfill the vision we had set two years [ago]," Ali told Gulf News as he announced his candidature for the top post on Tuesday.
Elections for a new board of directors for a four-year term will be held on May 21 and Ali's opponent for the top post will be Yousuf Al Mulla of Hatta Club.
"Honestly, two years is too short a period to implement too many programmes, but I feel we as a board we have worked hard to make a difference for volleyball in the UAE in the past few months," Ali said.
"Our work of the past speaks for itself, but if we are given an additional four years then we can add on to this and ensure the growth of volleyball even more," he said.
The UAE VA president added that the country currently boasts seven fully-fledged volleyball teams, including two women's sides, two beach volleyball teams and a senior, junior and youth team in the men's section.
"We have worked hard towards a programme of self-sustenance wherein we try to market our events and get sponsors with an objective of ensuring the long-term stability for volleyball in the UAE. Further, we have also succeeded in getting all private institutions and tournaments under one umbrella so that we can all work towards one common goal of developing the sport here," Ali said.
The UAE will play at next year's Asian Men's Volleyball Championship as hosts and the UAE VA has already recruited a coach, Gregory Rys, to guide the team during the build-up to this prestigious event.
"We see the growth and sustenance of our sport and feel that an additional four years in office will make a huge difference in implementing ideas for some unfinished business," Ali said.
