Saeed Hareb, Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council, speaks at the launch of Sports Summer
Saeed Hareb, Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council, speaks at the launch of Sports Summer Image Credit: Supplied

Dubai Sports Council (DSC) has announced the ‘Sports Summer’ initiative to beat the heat and keep the UAE’s sports enthusiasts busy through the summer months. With a schedule of more than 120 events across 27 different sports, the programme starts on June 18 and runs until August 31.

The announcement was made at a conference at DSC headquarters on Wednesday, with Saeed Hareb, Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council, revealing details about the initiative.

Hareb spoke about the Council’s long-standing partnership with Dubai World Trade Centre and Ski Dubai in Mall of the Emirates, which will be hosting a number of the events as part of the initiative, which is being organised in coordination with a number of government entities including Dubai Police and Dubai Municipality.

Ski Dubai — recently nominated for ‘Middle East’s Leading Adventure Tourist Attraction’ and ‘Middle East’s Leading Tourist Attraction’ at the 2021 World Travel Awards as well as ‘World’s Best Indoor Ski Resort’ at the 2021 World Ski Awards — will host the world’s first indoor edition of Red Bull Jump & Freeze on July 9, as well as Snow Yoga and the UAE’s first Snow Volleyball tournament, and the second edition of the Snow Run. The Red Bull Jump & Freeze competition will see 20 teams in custom-made costumes and vehicles slide take to the slope of Ski Dubai and jump into a pool of freezing water before a panel of judges who will decide the winners.

Dubai World Trade Centre, meanwhile, has transformed its halls into a multi-sports destination for the 11th edition of Dubai Sports World (DSW), hosting sports activities including football, basketball, cricket, badminton, tennis, volleyball, padel tennis and table tennis.

“We are really excited about this new initiative and looking forward to working with our long-standing partners, Dubai World Trade Centre and Ski Dubai, in bringing some truly unique and exciting sports events this summer to our sports loving community,” Hareb said. “With temperatures on the rise on the outside, Dubai World Trade Centre and Ski Dubai offer the perfect refuge for our sports community with their excellent indoor facilities and unique community-centric events.

“Our partnership allows us to spread the culture of physical activity and encourage newer segments of the community to embrace a physically active lifestyle.”

Events, which will take place indoors as well outdoors at beaches and other locales, involve 27 different sports including mini-cricket, skateboarding, boxing, cycling, footvolley, beach yoga, kite surfing, jet-skiing among many others.

Mahir Julfar, Executive Vice President — Venue Services Management, Dubai World Trade Centre, and Mohammad El Etri, Vice President — Global Snow, Majid Al Futtaim Leisure & Entertainment and Cinema, were also present at the launch, along with Nasser Aman Al Rahma, Assistant Secretary General of DSC and a number of officials from DSC, Dubai World Trade Centre and Majid Al Futtaim Leisure & Entertainment and Cinema.