UAE National Olympic Committee unveils three new initiatives

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The National Olympic Committee (NOC) has unveiled three initiatives for the next Olympic period following a webinar held to examine the national and international Olympic movement during the post-coronavirus future.

Initiatives launched during the event, which was remotely organised by the NOC and attended by 500 followers from sports and media organisations, were focused on the launch of the university Olympics, Olympic heritage and foreign communities Olympics.

The University Olympics is the first Olympic Games across universities of the UE. The second initiative relates to the Olympic legacy and includes strengthening the Olympic legacy of the UAE in coordination with various sports bodies.

It covers developing the economies of Olympic sports, coordinating with Stakeholders to boost the infrastructure of the Olympic Movement, and inculcating the principles of the Olympic Movement across the community members.

The Community Olympics initiative echoes the UAE’s vision towards promoting the integration and harmony among all members of the UAE society, and applying the principles of the International Olympic Charter in a non-discriminatory manner in sports practice.

These initiatives were revealed during the webinar, which was opened by Mohammed Ben Sulayem, Secretary-General of the National Olympic Committee, and a host of speakers and participants from officials and stakeholders of the national Olympic Movement.

He conveyed the greetings of Sheikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the National Olympic Committee, noting that he always keeps in high regards the value of cooperation in developing the sports sector in the UAE.

Osama Al Amiri moderated the webinar sessions which covered six main topics. Attendees included Sheikh Rashid Bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, President of the Football Association, Mohammed Sultan Al Obaidly, Head of Legal Affairs of the Federal Government, Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Hussain, Secretary-General of the General Authority for Sports, Mohammed Fadel Al Hamili, President of the National Paralympics Committee, Ali Mohammed Bujsaim, President of the UAE Sports Arbitration Centre and Dr Rima Al Hosani, Chairperson of the National Anti-Doping Committee.

Issa HilalAl Hazami, Chairman of Sharjah Sports Council, Aref Hamad Al Awani, Secretary General of Abu Dhabi Sports Council, Saeed Mohammed Hareb, Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council, Amna Al Dahak Al Shamsi, Assistant Undersecretary for Activities and Welfare Sector at the Ministry of Education, Noura Khalifa Al Suwaidi, Director-General of the General Women's Union, Brigadier Khaled Shuheil, Vice President of Police Sports Union, and Hamad Al Kaabi, Secretary-General of the Federation of Higher Education Institutions, also attended the webinar.

In the opening speech, Ben Sulayem said, “The National Olympic Committee aims to keep pace with global events by building an organizational structure that tackleschallenges facing the Olympic movement in the training and qualification sports cadres.”

He put forward a set of innovative programmes related to the Olympic Movementand initiatives to promote the culture of sports practices and broaden the sports practice all over the UAE.

 “Since February 2020, the National Olympic Committee worked on the formation of the UAE Sports Arbitration Centre, and developed a master plan for the UAE Olympic Library comprising thousands of books and international references related to sports and the Olympic movement, rendering it the largest scientific edifice for NOCs in the Middle East,” reported Ben Sulayem.

He also revealed that taking-over the NOC’s building is nearing completion; which would reduce expenditures on lease contracts by Sports Federations.

He also reported that the strategic document of the National Olympic Academy had been updated in line with the principles of the International Olympic Movement and the directions of the International Olympic Academy.

Ben Sulayem stressed the importance of lending support to the preparation of the statutes of sports bodies to bring them in line with the provisions of the International Olympic Charter and the rules of international sports federations. He called for providing logistical support to all national sports entities as regards the convening of board meetings via digital means.

The Secretary-General of the NOC also reviewed the key decisions related to the International Olympic Movement taken during the IOC’s 136th session allocating $150 million to the Olympic Movement to help with the recovery from the Coronavirus pandemic.

He noted that the IOC agreed with Senegal to postpone the Youth Olympics from 2022 to 2026, and to expand the global anti-doping efforts by cancelling the annual Anti-Doping Agency's 2021 seminar and replacing it by a program that would support anti-doping information by June 16, 2021.