Dubai: Carlo Nohra, the outgoing chairman of the UAE Football League (UFL) has reiterated his commitment to UAE football following his replacement on Thursday by Dr Khalid Mohammad Abdullah.
"The choice of stepping aside was entirely my decision and I find that I am now in a better position to contribute to the growth of football in the UAE," Nohra told Gulf News yesterday.
A press release, sent across to the Arabic media on Thursday, stated that the Interim Pro-League Committee, headed by Chairman Saeed Abdul Gaffar Hussain, has assigned Dr Khalid Mohammed Abdullah, current acting Secretary-General of the UAEFA, as the CEO of the Interim Pro-League Committee following Nohra's departure.
Prior to joining the UFL at the beginning of 2010, Nohra served as Assistant Secretary-General for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), where he oversaw the organisation of competitions including the AFC Asian Cup and the Asian qualifiers for the Fifa World Cup and Olympic Games.
Nohra is also credited with the establishment with an event management division designed to facilitate the operation delivery of events as well as anchor the relationship with local organising committees and host football associations. He also oversaw the re-negotiation of AFC's rights deal with the World Sport Group (WSG) for the commercial period from 2013 to 2020 before making the move to the UAE at the beginning of last year.
"It has been a fruitful period for me where I tried my best to clean things up and head positively in a direction for the sake of the sport," Nohra said.
Abdullah Al Junaibi, Vice Chairman of the Interim Pro-League Committee, Chairman of the Technical Committee and official spokesman confirmed Nohra's departure
Al Junaibi thanked the outgoing UFL chairman for the great efforts and achievements he has made during the 18 months with the league.
