Keep it up, UAE

The UAE seems to be a much-sought-after destination for global sports competitions, especially for those events that cannot be hosted in home countries due to COVID-19 (“ICC confirms T20 WC to be held in UAE, sends wave of euphoria among fans,” June 29, gulf Today).

Of course cricket tournaments take the cake, as the UAE has been hosting the grandest cricketing showpiece — Indian Premier League —for a couple of years, even if it means a few matches. For example the IPL 2021 which was suspended midway because of the rise in cases in India, will now be played here beginning September 18.

It is indeed a great honour for the country and the various organizing committees to have world sports institutions repose faith in their abilities to host tournaments safely, by following all protocols deemed necessary to keep COVID-19 at bay.

Despite the raging pandemic last year, the UAE successfully hosted IPL, AFC Champions League matches, FIFA World Cup qualifier, Asian Boxing Championships and a few matches of the suspended Pakistan Super League.

Of course the staging of the Twenty20 World Cup in the UAE jointly alongside Oman will definitely add another feather to UAE’s cap. More so because it is for the first time in the history of the game that the World Cup will be played in a non-Test playing nations.

And I agree with the writer that the successful staging of MMA fight at the Yas Island, featuring the stars like — Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov – opened the floodgates, and the UAE became a top destination to stage the sporting events.

But all that is possible because as Khalid Al Zarooni, Vice President of the ECB says “The UAE’s reputation as being a safe country in which to host high-profile sporting events is a strong compliment to our government’s unwavering commitment to implementing and monitoring effective health practices during the pandemic.”

Way to go, UAE.

Shankar Shukla
By email