Abu Dhabi: Members of the Federal National Council on Tuesday demanded that tight financial control be imposed on sports clubs across the country.
The move was adopted after Saleh Mubarak Al Ameri, a member from Abu Dhabi, questioned Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, about the extremely high salaries paid to soccer players in the UAE.
Al Ameri said many football players draw extremely high salaries that exceed that of even ministers in the government and that their performances do not match that high payment.
Shaikh Nahyan, who is also the Chairman of the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare, said the government may not intervene in the affairs of the football clubs, as they are run by an independent authority — the UAE Football Association.
The members of the House argued that sports affairs are left to the sports authorities, but what they demand is control over the financial aspects of the clubs, under the companies law.
Shaikh Nahyan eventually agreed to the FNC’s requests and the motion will be submitted to the Cabinet for approval.
Members also demanded the development of a national plan for training national human resources to Emiratise administrative and technical jobs at sports bodies.
They also demanded the issuance of a sports law to regulate all sports activities including, among other things, professionalism, disabled sports, administrative work, marketing of events, relations between the Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare and ministries, the Olympic committee and sports clubs, as well as the development of performance indices.
The members also demanded that funds for the authority be increased so as to ensure a more comprehensive implementation of its strategy.
