Sheikh Mansoor meets FIFA chief Infantino, discusses efforts to develop world football

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

Sheikh Mansoor Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, met FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Monday in the presence of Mattar Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of the Council, at the start of the world football chief’s two-day official visit to the UAE.

The meeting, held at Dubai Sports Council’s headquarters, saw the two sides discuss ways of strengthening the relationship between the Council and FIFA, as well as ways of bolstering their efforts to develop international football and broaden the Beautiful Game’s role in promoting the values of tolerance, peace and co-existence between people.

Infantino was also given a tour of the Council’s office and shown “The Wall”, which is a collage of some of Dubai International Sports Conference’s best-known guests and participants through the years. The FIFA chief also visited the Mohammed Bin Rashid Creative Sports Award, and expressed his admiration for the Award’s logo.

Sheikh Mansoor, meanwhile, expressed his appreciation of FIFA’s efforts to develop world football and increase its influence in the sphere of empowering people, and promoting universal human values like peace, tolerance, and co-existence.

Gianni Infantino have a look at “The Wall,” which is a collage of some of Dubai International Sports Conference’s best-known guests and participants.

Sheikh Mansoor also expressed his pride in the exceptionally good, productive and proactive relationship between the Council and world football’s governing body, as well as Infantino’s participation in the Dubai International Sports Conference, which has become a prestigious annual platform for meaningful discussions between football’s different stakeholders.

Sheikh Mansoor also officially invited the FIFA President to speak at the Dubai International Sports Conference, which takes place on Dec.27 at Armani Hotel in Burj Khalifa, under the theme "Football at the Summit."

The FIFA President thanked Sheikh Mansoor, the Chairman of the Council, and accepted the invite to speak at the Conference, where he will deliver the keynote address, which will focus on the role football plays in bringing people together and promoting human values, as well dwell on FIFA’s upcoming efforts and initiatives to develop football globally.

Infantino thanked His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai’s Executive Council, for their generous support of the sports sector in general and football in particular.

He also saluted Sheikh Mansoor for the efforts of Dubai Sports Council to develop football in the country, the region and the world by organising the Dubai International Sports Conference, which has become one of international football’s top brainstorming sessions, identifying relevant issues in the sport and conversing with decision makers to not just find solutions, but also develop new horizons.

The Dubai International Sports Conference has been bringing football’s top stakeholders together since 2006 for extensive discussions on challenges facing the ever-evolving world of football and discussing ways to develop and enrich the sport at the domestic, regional and international level.

Infantino has been a regular guest at the Dubai International Sports Conference and has featured in six editions since his first appearance in 2011, when he came here as the Secretary General of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).

He participated in the Conference as a candidate for the presidency of the International Football Federation in 2016, and used the platform to present his manifesto as well as his vision and plans for the development of international football.