Abdul Rahman Bukhatir is the man who transformed the UAE into a cricket oasis. Bukhatir not only paved the way for the game to flourish, but he also pioneered the entry of international cricket into the UAE.
Building the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, he staged 198 matches to clinch a place in the history of the game for hosting the maximum number of One-Day matches. When the match fixing scandal hit world cricket in the 1990's it blew away Sharjah's chances to host tournaments. But Sharjah's role in the scandal was never proved. However, after that, the venue faded away from prominence.
Bukhatir, however, refused to give up in his efforts to promote cricket. Last year he staged a stupendous comeback by building one of the finest state-of-the-art cricket stadiums in the Dubai Sports City. When the construction boom hit Dubai and many cricket grounds were demolished, he went on to set up the Al Dhaid Cricket Village — an open air facility with seven pitches including two turf wickets.
"Cricket is my passion and I am always happy to contribute to the promotion of the game," remarked Bukhatir.
He is one of three partners, along with Abdul Rehman Falaknaz and Khalid Al Zarooni, who have set up the Dubai Sports City which has become the ‘home' of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the venue for the ICC Global Cricket Academy.
