Coach Jorge da Silva arrives to lead Bani Yas

Abu Dhabi: Jorge da Silva, the new coach of Bani Yas, arrived in the UAE on Saturday and will hold his first meeting with his new team on Sunday night as the club steps up its preparations for the new Arab Gulf League 2013-14.

Da Silva, from Uruguay, will oversee a domestic training camp that will start on Monday at the club’s stadium and will continue until the start of the club’s friendly tournament on July 31.

The tournament features Al Nasr from Saudi Arabia, Al Araby from Kuwait and Dhafra from Oman.

Bani Yas will start the event on July 31 against Dhafar, while Al Nasr will play Al Araby on the same night in the round-robin competition, which will end on August 6.

“The meeting with Da Silva will be attended by all the players, locals and foreigners, who have all returned from their vacations and have already undergone the medical check-ups.” Abdullah Al Harithi, the supervisor of the team, said on Saturday. “Mubarak Bin Mihairoum, the vice-chairman of the club’s board of directors, will also attend the meeting in which Da Silva will explain his strategies and Bin Mihairoum will talk about the club’s objectives in the new season, especially in the AFC Champions League. We are looking forward to compete for domestic and continental titles in the new season.”

Bani Yas will leave for their external training camp in Austria on August 12, when they will play friendly games against Al Sadd from Qatar on August 18. They are yet to announce the dates of their matches against Al Hilal from Saudi Arabia and Al Khor from Qatar and a first division club from Austria. They will return home on August 29.