Arab sports take new turn

Dubai - Mohammed Award winners and prominent figures take part in forum

The one-day seventh Sports Creativity Forum themed 'Creative Experiences' was held in Dubai on Wednesday with delegates from a number of nations attending the three sessions.
Discussions were held in the presence of some of the nominees of the Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award, and prominent figures in sports administration.
The Forum's speakers, mostly winners in the various categories of the Award which is one of a kind with handsome prize money on offer, came forward with candid views on how to take sports forward especially in the context of the Arab world.
In his message welcoming the speakers and delegates, Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award, and President of the National Olympic Committee, said: "The Award has not been launched only to reward creative persons, but to popularise the culture of creativity and excellence in sports work too. It shows creative experiences in various sports fields and encourages athletes and sports entities to attain creativity and excellence by attracting elite lecturers and organising symposiums, conferences and forums to meet with providers of distinctive experiences and creative thoughts, and finally endeavouring to attain promising development."
The first of the three-sessions at the Forum was titled 'Distinctive Experience', and was to be addressed by Prince Nawaf bin Faisal bin Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, who has been named as the Arab Sportsperson in 2015 for his efforts to boost sports in Saudi Arabia and the Arab world.
The second session witnessed interesting talks on 'Administrative Experiences', where the inputs of Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa of Bahrain, Deputy President of the International Equestrian Federation, and Khairah Saedi Bu Yaquob, the first female Arab international boxing referee.
Shaikh Khalid said: "Equestrian activities are not broadly accepted as attractive to a spectator at the venues and the TV platform. This is the biggest challenge facing the sport and all of us have to be on the world stage and at the Arab controlling bodies, to come out with greater efforts towards creating a momentum to popularise it."
Khairah who officiates at women's as well as men's events, said: "Women's boxing has come to be an accepted part of the international fraternity and the London Olympics proved it. The Arab world had a fair amount of participation and the levels are on the increase ever since. Arab women are fully involved today and it is no more a male dominated scene."
The third session had the subject 'Corporation Experiences', open for discussion and Naser Al Nayadi, President, Skydive Dubai Club and President of the UAE Air Sports Association, said: "The distinctive experience of the foundation and launch of our club, places the Club as one of the top air sports clubs all over the world."
Next to speak here was Major General Majdi Mohammed Al Lozi, who brought out the experience of the Egyptian Military Sports Corporation to boost the physical fitness for soldiers while the third lecture had Marius Pfizer, President, International Judo Federation, talking on the federation's initiative to enable Syrian refugees to take part in sports activities in the camps. The last lecture was addressed by Mustafa Al Agha, presenter of Sada Al Malaeb and Programme Manager of Sports Sec. at MBC TV. His main topic for presentation was on 'No to Intolerance Initiative'.
moni@khaleejtimes.com