News
UAE to become top sporting hub
Posted on 05/18/09
The Age - Australia
UAE to become top sporting hub
May 18th, 2009
Matt Smith
Thirty years ago, camel racing was the favoured pastime of the United Arab Emirates. Now, by building the best facilities oil money can buy, this desert nation hopes to become a sporting hub to rival the world's best.
As 2008 rolled into 2009, the world's greatest tennis players were happily tucked up in bed inside the luxury confines of Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace Hotel. The consensus was they were all in the United Arab Emirates for nothing more than cold, hard cash, but in the course of the next three days Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Andy Murray, Nikolay Davydenko and James Blake blasted down aces, conjured up sublime passing shots and played with such intensity that it became clear the grandly titled Capitala World Tennis Championship was most definitely not, as advertised, an exhibition event. In the end Murray emerged victorious, pocketing $US250,000. Afterwards he noted how "this has raised my game for the season".
Federer, too, was quick to praise the tournament, but he did hint at how much of a gamble it had been. "It was great out there," he said. "It was all new, so nobody knew how this was going to go ... But this is how things should be all the time. Great organisation, great fans and great tennis."
For members of the Abu Dhabi government, this was much more than just a few games of tennis, it was a statement of intent. They are determined to put the capital city of the UAE firmly on the sporting map. There is no doubt they have the wealth - oil reserves are vast - but they see the Capitala championship as a small step in proving they also have the expertise, marketing savvy and courage to realise their grand ambitions. "Sport is part of this country's heritage through the racing of horses and camels and falconry," explains an Abu Dhabi government source. "But those in power are also very much focused on the future of sport. It will drive people to visit. It will generate income and it is a perfect way of creating a brand. Abu Dhabi wants only the best. Make no mistake - sport is a top priority."
An hour's drive down the road in Dubai, the determination is the same, the difference being there are already some well-established events there in sports such as golf, tennis, horse racing and rugby union. The goal now for Dubai is to make everything bigger and better. And while Abu Dhabi and Dubai may be different emirates, they work together on a federal level. So when it comes to sport the message from the UAE is simple: 2009 is when it wants to really make a big splash.
Perhaps the easiest way to illustrate this is to examine the Dubai World Cup, held annually since 1996. This month, the finest thoroughbreds will line up in what has become the world's richest horse race, with around $US6 million in prizemoney - a total which tops $20 million when other races throughout the day are included.
Understandably, owners, trainers and jockeys see the Dubai World Cup as one of the most important dates in the season. However, despite this success, this is the last year it will be held at its current home, the fairly modest Nad Al Sheba racetrack. From 2010, Meydan, a billion-dollar development, will play host. The reasoning is simple: the Dubai World Cup needs to be large enough to register in the global public consciousness, like the Melbourne Cup or the Kentucky Derby.
"Dubai just gets more and more important to racing," says jockey Frankie Dettori, who has won the Dubai World Cup three times. "The new track will just make everything bigger in terms of getting a profile around the world." Dettori rides for the Godolphin stables, which is owned by Dubai's ruling family, of which the head is Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, UAE's Prime Minister.
After the sun goes down on the Dubai World Cup, the next major event in the UAE sporting calendar will be in October, when the Formula 1 circus rolls into town. Yas Island - a development on a large natural island in Abu Dhabi - will not only provide the setting for the November 1 race but will, like Meydan, be used to attract tourists and wider investment through the construction of beach hotels and leisure complexes. And in a neat tie-in, the island will also be home to a theme park branded by Ferrari, a company that Mubadala, the investment arm of the Abu Dhabi government, now has a stake in.
When the contract to stage the race in Abu Dhabi was signed, F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone spoke of how this was more than a one-shot deal: "This is something that is a long-term partnership." Behind the scenes, there were more than pleasant handshakes. Those on the Abu Dhabi side of the deal were determined to secure the best race date possible, and it was widely thought they had managed to persuade F1 to give them the season's penultimate race - a coup considering fan interest is usually high at that time.
But they had done better than that: when the F1 racing calendar was announced, Abu Dhabi was drawn to host the final event. And if the drama of last season - when Lewis Hamilton nicked the world crown on the final lap of the final race - is even close to being repeated, then the emirate will have to fight off both sponsors and
ticket-hungry fans.
An official who worked on the deal for Abu Dhabi detailed the importance of the final race coup. "We all thought Brazil would keep the last date but we kept on the pressure," he said. "When we got the finale it showed how important Abu Dhabi is to F1. It is up there with football World Cups in terms of mass appeal ... It will be the biggest sporting event ever held in the UAE and we are going to make it one to remember."
If there is one sport that combines big-time events and a thriving local industry it is golf. Tiger Woods, Greg Norman, Sergio Garcia and Ernie Els have all either designed or are designing courses in the UAE. "Golf here is a very big business," says Darren King, an Australian who developed the launch strategy for the Els Club in Dubai Sports City. "Courses are being built all over Dubai, then you have more in the north of the country and Abu Dhabi is going that way. Golf tourism is the key for them ... Getting tournaments is a big aim; that is what we are trying to do at Els." King says competition is fierce. "In some ways golf is the sport of the UAE."
The PGA European Tour sweeps through the UAE at the start of the year in what's known as the Desert Swing. Tournaments in Abu Dhabi and Dubai sandwich an event in Qatar with prizemoney that attracts US stars. When Woods first came out for the Dubai Desert Classic, several top European players said he had raised the prestige of the event. Still, it was a shock to many in the sport when the PGA European Tour Order of Merit was rebranded The Race to Dubai - effectively making November's new Dubai World Championship, with a $US10 million prize pot, the focal point of the whole calendar. "Geographically, Dubai is great for golfers," says Swede Henrik Stenson, one of a number of professionals now based in the city.
Rugby union, too, is becoming more prominent. The Dubai Rugby Sevens has become one of the most popular sporting and social occasions of the rugby year, and the most recent tournament, in 2008, was held in a new, purpose-built venue. But by winning the bid for this month's Sevens World Cup, rugby union fans are starting to recognise Dubai as an equal to Hong Kong - the traditional home of Sevens.
People often talk about masterplans for the UAE. There is its goal of becoming "the Switzerland of the Middle East", and Dubai's ambition of being home to 20 million by 2020. In order to make those targets a reality, huge amounts of money are being poured into sport. It is hard to watch sport on TV without seeing a logo for Emirates - Dubai's carrier - on the front of a shirt or plastered across a hoarding. In English football, the airline has secured the naming rights to Arsenal's new stadium in north London, while Etihad, the Abu Dhabi airline, is involved in a commercial tie-up with Chelsea, albeit on a smaller scale.
Away from branding deals, the rich families in both emirates see owning a football club as the perfect way of "spreading the message". Dubai International Capital was the first to have a go with a bid for Liverpool, although that ultimately failed. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan did things more simply when he bought Manchester City. The sheikh, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family, then broke the British transfer record by bringing in Brazilian Robinho for £32.5 million. The UAE has also attracted November's FIFA World Club Cup, a competition for the football champions of each continent.
All up, it's easy to see why those mapping out the nation's future are proud of its sports portfolio. What is not so clear is for how long it can go on. Should funding become tighter, then big - and expensive - sporting events could be one of the first casualties. Only time will tell whether this small country can permanently stand shoulder to shoulder with the sporting big boys