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Ever since the UAE sports sector was established in 1971, the political leadership has kept in mind the role of sports in the development and advancement of the nation, and given special attention to its growth, welfare, and institutionalization. It provides social development services, including establishing and maintaining sports clubs.
By building many modern sports facilities, such as football stadiums, car racing tracks, golf courses, and training centers throughout the country, the UAE hopes to provide the necessary support for sports in the country.
The UAE, under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has always been eager to cooperate and collaborate with the world. Commenting to the media office of the Government of Dubai about the city hosting the Asia Cup, he said:
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"Thanks to the vision of our leadership, hosting large-scale global sport events such as the Asia Cup reinforces our position on the international events map"
Dubai has become the sports destination of choice for the global sports community due to its ambitious leadership, strategic location, robust infrastructure, and competitive youth.
Anubhav Roda on the UAE sports sector
Anubhav Roda, is a sports management professional who has worked with PwC and RISE, among other notable firms, and is a thought leader in the space of sports sponsorship and activation. He spoke to us about the UAE sports sector, the international events hosted by UAE, health and fitness industry, grassroots sports, and more.
What is the largest and fastest growing sport in the UAE? How does the sector relate to the overall economy, demography and other similar sectors? What forces will shape the sector going forward? In this article, you will find answers to all these questions and many more.
Growth
The sports industry in the UAE is expanding, with aspirational goals to boost sports participation, elevate high-performance results, and foster the growth of the sports tourism industry.
UAE's world-class sports, hospitality, and tourism infrastructure, as well as its unrivaled ability to host mega-events, contributed to its selection as tournament host. Anubhav Roda touched on this, saying:
"UAE has continued to host international sports events of high quality, which has helped it showcase its capabilities to the world in terms of resources, infrastructure, expertise."
Increasing government support and increased commercial maturity have led to a rise in the Middle East's profile in sports, according to a recent PwC survey. In the next three to five years, the sports sector is anticipated to expand more quickly in the Middle East than anywhere else in the world, according to experts.
In the same PwC survey, respondents predicted that the Middle East sports market would expand by 8.7 percent over the next three to five years, which is a sharp contrast to the worldwide sports industry.
With the value of sports and physical activity increasing, the government has created a national strategy for the industry. The cabinet has approved the creation of the Sports Coordination Council to promote strategic coordination and integration on a national level, strengthen collaboration between the federal government and the sports councils, and support the national plan.
Targets that highlight the importance of sport are included in the UAE's vision 2071 for its centennial, whether at the societal (a joyful and harmonious community) or the economic level (a diverse economy).
With resources depleting, Dubai looked beyond the oil economy, and tourism was the next biggest sector. What are some ways in which the UAE is branding itself through sustainable sporting events?
Anubhav Roda responded by saying:
"The UAE continues to host high-quality international sporting events that have helped it showcase its capabilities to the world in terms of resources, infrastructure, and expertise. Sport helps position countries positively, boosting the economy, providing media exposure, and having positive effects on the local sporting scene thanks to better infrastructure and sports movement locally. These are some of the key reasons to why the UAE and generally, the Middle East have bet big on sports."
Past successes
The UAE leads the region in terms of resources, venues, and events for heritage and traditional sports including camel racing and equestrianism. Despite having a small local population, the UAE has participated in the last 10 Olympic games on the high-performance side, but with modest results.
The UAE Team Emirates' Tour de France victory in 2020 was the only recent victory among the sports that has seen major investment - cycling and jiu jitsu. In addition, a significant expat population has introduced sports such as badminton, golf, rugby, and cricket to the UAE's sporting scene.
Sports had a huge impact on the economy, as Anubhav Roda explained by citing an impressive stat:
"As per a Deloitte report from 2015, Dubai alone saw a total economic impact of $670mn due to sport. With more and more sports coming into the country, especially over the last few years, this figure would have easily doubled, crossing the $1bn mark."
Approach (Asia Cup)
The UAE has a long history of hosting top-notch international sporting events, boosting sports tourism, fostering social cohesion, and promoting sports as a way of life. The Asia Cup, the Formula 1 season finale in Abu Dhabi, the Indian Premier League, and the UFC are just some of the high-profile events the UAE now hosts that attract sportsmen from around the world.
Both the AFC Asian Cup and the Special Olympics World Games, which brought together 7,500 athletes from 190 nations, were held in the UAE in 2019, demonstrating the country's commitment to social inclusion.
More recently, the UAE established itself as a secure location for events during the pandemic. The country has successfully hosted a number of events, including the Indian Premier League, AFC Champions League games, FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Asian Boxing Championships, matches from the suspended Pakistan Super League, the Cricket T20 World Cup in October 2021, and most recently hosted the Asia Cup 2022.
Explaining their strategy to bring over a variety of sports and more international sporting events, Anubhav Roda said:
"Sport events have also helped bring more momentum in the health and fitness industry, grassroots sports, and the conferences and exhibitions industry. The General Authority of Sports had launched UAE Sports Sector Strategy 2032, focusing on three key elements: mass participation, high performance, and the sports ecosystem, with huge focus on transformation of federations. There has also been emphasis on digital acceleration in the sporting world to achieve the objectives."
Road map
The UAE's sports industry is redoubling its attempts to involve businesses. This includes fresh opportunities for cooperative ventures and public-private partnerships. The National Sports Development Fund, which GAS recently launched, aims to solve this by identifying change-related pillars and offering seed investments that will build on partnerships to produce compounded sporting and monetary returns.
The private sector can profit from greater sports participation, enhanced high performance, growing sports tourism, and a growing range of events like the Asia Cup.
Besides hosting year-long sports tournaments, the UAE has also become the preferred training venue for athletes around the world. Many top teams from football, cricket, boxing, and golf visit the UAE's world-class training facilities throughout the year to recharge their skills and prepare for tournaments and title matches. As part of the preparations for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, international athletes chose Dubai as a training location.
Considering the UAE's leadership's unbridled ambition, the country's strategic location, willingness to help, robust infrastructure, and the aptitude of its youth, it is hardly surprising to see it becoming the sports capital of the world.
