Dubai: The Gulf Arab sheikdom has plans to expand its existing sports facilities across the emirate and eyes submitting a bid to host the Olympic Games.
Ali Omar, the director of Dubai Sports Council (DSC) sports development department, said that submitting a candidature as host city to the international Olympic committee (IOC) was still on the agenda, reports Xinhua.
"Hosting the Olympics is a dream. We hope to submit such a bid within the next eight years, God willing," he said.
The next two Olympic Games will be held in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and in 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. The bidding process for the host city for 2024 has not yet started. Berlin has expressed interest in bidding for the Games in 10 years.
Omar said that Qatar did a good job to win the FIFA World Cup in 2022.
"Qatar`s move has brought the world`s attention to professional sports in the whole Gulf Arab region," he added.
In December of 2006, Qatar`s capital Doha hosted the 15th Asian Games, a first for any Arab city.
While Dubai managed to attract numerous international sports competitions in various disciplines like tennis (Dubai Duty Free Grand Prix), table tennis (GAC GROUP 2013 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals), swimming or diving, a major event is yet to take place.
With the Dubai Sports City, Dubai harbours a complete district that provides football and cricket stadiums as well as sports academies on a surface of 50 million square feet.
Bringing the Asian Cup to Dubai would also be an option, said Ahmed Al Sharif, the DSC secretary general.
He briefed the media on Dubai`s achievements in hosting professional sports events and in enhancing sport facilities and events on health for the general public.
Al-Sharif said that Dubai has built a number of high-tech stadiums, and more stadiums and facilities would be needed across the emirate for a bid for a major global sports competition.
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.