DUBAI - Sportex Middle East, the region’s leading trade show for the leisure industry, opens at Shaikh Maktoum Hall
Dubai World Trade Centre on Sunday, bringing three days of fierce competition, business dealings and best practice sharing to the region’s sports and leisure industry.
The trade show will close on November 2, a press release said.
“This week’s Sportex Middle East exhibition will provide business opportunities to buyers and suppliers of sports infrastructure, refurbishment, facilities and surfacing; venue technology and systems; sporting goods, licensing and merchandising; event management and planning services; and club management, coaching and consumer consultancy,” said Abdul Rahman Falaknaz, chairman of International Expo-Consults, the organiser of Sportex .
“It is the ‘must attend’ event for those working in the sports and leisure industry in the region. However, it’s not all work – Sportex will also provide visitors with plenty of entertainment and networking opportunities too,” he added.
Sportex Middle East will offer franchising and distributorship opportunities, showcase new technologies, products and services, and provide the launch pad for new joint ventures and business acquisitions.
Sporting disciplines represented at Sportex include fitness, golf, football, hockey, pool, cycling, tennis, basketball, rugby, cricket, squash, boxing, table tennis, badminton, billiards, bowling, beach volleyball, soccer, volleyball, snooker, boating, camping, high jump, shot put, javelin, gymnastics, martial arts, bodybuilding and yoga, amongst others.
Sportex Active will offer visitors the chance to get up close to many of the new-to-market products due to be unveiled to the region at the show. For the first time, the show will offer a dedicated area for the public to actually try out the many sports forms and equipment being showcased by exhibitors, the release said.
A number of live sporting events will also take place within the Sportex Active area, including the Sportex University Cup and Corporate Cup Football Tournaments in addition to the Sportex Powerslam Bodybuilding Championship.
Sportex 2010 will host the first edition of the Sportex University Cup Football Tournament along with Sportex Corporate Cup Football Tournament held in association with Tirgan Sports Services with Orlando Sports onboard as the Official Sponsor for the tournaments.
The indoor football tournament is being staged in two categories: a University level tournament due to held from 1pm to 4pm and a Corporate football tournament due to be held from 5pm to 8pm, running across all three days.
Over 128 teams with 640 participants will compete against each other to make it to the grand finale on the closing day. The event is open to all universities and corporate firms across the region to send in their teams to compete for this prestigious title.
Athletes from across the GCC, with sports persons from Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait, are expected to travel to the UAE to take part.
Sportex also hosts an annual bodybuilding championship every year. Called the Sportex Powerslam Bodybuilding Championship, this event brings together fitness aficionados from across the GCC to contest across two categories.
Held in association with the Emirates Bodybuilding Federation, this fiercely contested show of strength attracts athletes from across the GCC with cash prizes of up to AED 6,000 up for grabs in two weight categories – below 85 kgs and above 85 kgs.
The Sportex Powerslam Bodybuilding Championship will take place on Sunday from 11am to 1.30pm and will conclude with the finale scheduled for 4pm to 6pm. Sportex Middle East is presented by Dubai Sports City, endorsed by the Dubai Sports Council and is a member of the World Federation of Sports Goods Industry. Sportex is supported by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Awards, Emirates Bodybuilding Federation and Tirgan Sports Services, as well as by the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation and the Taiwan Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, the release added.