Sports in the UAE
Introduction
In any country, sport is an energetically promoted activity by all citizens. This is done as a result of health benefits as well as for supplementary and cultural roles between people who are sharing the loved games. UAE being a dessert land, most of the prominent sporting activities are associated with the desert sands in which camels and horses often rule the roost. Most of the time, people do come together to watch various sporting events. The great sporting activities which are hugely followed by several are like camel racing alongside different kinds of equestrianism. In the face of the arrival of contemporary sports activities such as golf, which cater to rich people and tourists, various conventional sporting activities are being abandoned.
The UAE government has constructed sports clubs having state-of-art equipment. These facilities are used by the residents for enjoyment as well as play their favorite sports during their leisure time. Traditional games are provided weigh by the government and are prompted to maintain the country’s heritage in support of the future generation. Different sporting events, together with championships, are regularly arranged to attract players from different global arenas. This offers the country a vast viewership globally. Various sporting events work in partnership in playing active roles for tourism promotion with the nation. Sporting activities generate revenue for the country. For instance, whenever there is a football, then spectators get charged for such matches.
Similarly, the events are a source of employment for many youths in the country. The essay delves into various sporting events in the UAE. Also, it lastly provides the comparisons of sports in UAE with and Algeria.
Sports in the UAE
Football
Soccer or only football is the utmost famous sport that played and loved in the UAE. An association governing the football activities, which is the United Arab Emirates Football, was started in the year 1971. Since it was formed, the association has devoted its efforts and time to promoting games in the UAE. Currently, UAE is ranked by FIFA at position 110 in the world rankings. Again, Manchester City FC recently has been bought by Abu Dhabi United Group. These are an indication of the love of football by the people of the UAE (Madichie, 2009). Across UEA, there are multiple football stadiums, with the largest being Zayed Sports City. In the year 1990, the national football team attained the qualification of taking part in the FIFA world cup. The team won Kirin Cup in the year 2005. UAE hosted FIFA under- 20 in the year 200. The country’s national team of under -19 qualified for the youth’s world cup in 2009 and 2010. The country has put much investment in football due to its status on the passion for football. The government has a belief that is a pool of talents in the country capable of taking football to higher levels (Prabhu & Subramanian, 2014).
Camel Racing
This is the other famous game in the UAE. It is probably the most played sport by several UAE natives. It is a conventional Arab sport that has been a component of many native lives for multiple years (Harkness, 2012). Two significant forms of camels are used in these sporting events. These include Sudania and Omani. The two types of camels have different colors.
Additionally, they feed on a distinctive date’s diet as well as milk. Besides, they are made to run some distances to build their stamina. Initially, camel racing was a long-established component of special events and weddings (Smith, 2010). Nowadays, the sports have been provided recognized status having a customized fifteen race tracks all over UAE. Currently, the country has equipped the camel racing with state-of-art facilities. The primarily known camel race includes Nad Al Sheba Racecourse that covers ten kilometers. The race takes place outside Al Wathba, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi. Regularly, the underage boys had been used as jockeys. However, because of hues and cries raised by various human rights, this has since been changed. They have been replaced by robots, a move, which is welcomed by several people in the country. Camel racing is enjoyed majorly by those from the states of the Persian Gulf.
Horse Racing
This is another sporting activity that is recognizable all over the globe due to its wealthy bloodline. Archaeologically, the Arabian horse is one of the oldest breeds in UAE. Thus, horse racing forms part and parcel of Arabian life having different tournaments being organized. Besides, there are many lessons which are being conducted for those who are eager to learn the sporting activities. Equipment in support of equestrian sports can be accessed easily in various sports clubs. Horse racing is assumed to be one of the forms of recreation in the country. Dubai is known for hosting the lushest horse racing match in the world (Smith, 2010). This is known as the Dubai World Cup. is hyped biggest till which held the Dubai World Cup in 2010. Most of the Arabian horses are capable of enduring Gulf rough terrain entirely. They are apt for long-distance as well as exhaustive and endurance rides. Horse racing is a sporting activity bound by strict rules with the rough course where the riding occurs. UAE is turning out to be a famous place for organizing rides of global standards. The country has played a host for FEI World Endurance Championship. This is a worldwide leading system for equestrian sporting events.
Golf
This forms the critical popular sporting activity within the United Emirates. There are multiple golf clubs in UAE (Prabhu & Subramanian, 2014). The Dubai Desert event typically takes place in Dubai. It is an event which is marked by the best golfers in the world. In terms of popularity, golf game is undergoing an up-flow in the country, with a considerable number of families turning up to watch such games. Dubai is known for hosting yearly Dubai Desert Classic, a European tour, even which is held every March. The tournament features many best golf players in the whole world.
Falconry
This is one of the oldest sports with nearly 2000 years in the UAE. Initially, this kind of sporting was only enjoyed by rich Sheiks. Again, the game was employed as a source of food like houbara and hares in support of various tribes. The game is incredibly difficult and requires a more significant deal of patience to train birds in showing off their skills. Emirates Bird Society has been making attempts to save and raising awareness concerning endangered species of birds (Smith, 2010). Pursuing migration of blueprint falcons and averting illegal falcon trade are some of how UAE is using in preserving falcon species.
Dhow sailing
This is an activity that is deemed to be one of the popular games amongst all the glances it draws from tourists who ride using the boats constructed with the use of woods. These are referred to as dhows. For the past stints, dhows were employed in fishing. However, with time these have been restructured towards accommodating standard amenities in support of offshore sailings and Dubai otherwise Abu Dhabi Coasts. This kind of sporting activity always attracts tourists who come to dhow at the shores of Dubai Creek (Smith, 2010). Most times, a competition on traditional dhow sailing is held during the months of winters along with the Islands of Sir Bu Nuair. This is meant to resuscitate olden periods of when pearl traders and fishers used to travel to deeper waters through the use of dhows.
Motorsports
Dubai Grand Prix is the first motorsport to be constructed in the United Arab Emirates in the year 1981. Dubai Grand Prix featured sporting events like car racing and touring, celebrity races together with demonstrations of formula one. As of the year 2009, the UAE Dessert challenge known as Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge is a safari rally aid that started in the year 1991. The Autodrome of Dubai opened its door in the year 2004 that hosted global races for its initial year of operation (Smith, 2010). The tracks of formal ones have been held in Abu Dhabi as of 2009 season onwards.
Comparison of the sports events in the UAE and Algeria
Sporting in UAE, just like that of Algeria, dates back from the memorial. Algeria within the Aures Mountains, people take to playing various games like El khergueba. In most instances, playing checkers and chess and cards form part and parcel of indoor games in both UAE and Algeria. In UAE and Algeria, rifle shooting and horse racing are some of the traditional sporting events which offer recreations to the people in both the country. In the two countries, the government promotes activities that are sport related. Algerian football is at better levels in terms of performance when compared to that of UAE. This is because the Algerian Football Federation (AFF) has won multiple awards starting with the FIFA World cup tournaments beginning with the current one of 2014, 2010, and in 1986. As mentioned above, the Fifa ranking of UAE stands at position 110 in the whole world. On the other hand, the Algeria Fifa rank places the country at position 35. This shows that football, which is the much-loved gams in the two countries, is well-managed and cherished Algeria than UAE.
Conclusion
Sporting activities act like recreational events in the UAE. However, sporting similarly pays. There are players in UAE who get paid for their talents with various football clubs in the country. UAE government has likewise ventured into sporting activities funding the construction of stadiums, which promotes multiple sporting activities.
References
Harkness, G. (2012). Out of bounds: Cultural barriers to female sports participation in Qatar. The international journal of the history of the sport, 29(15), 2162-2183.
Madichie, N. O. (2009). Professional sports: a new. The Marketing Review, 9(4), 301-318.
Prabhu, N., & Subramanian, K. (2014). The impact of sports tourism in the UAE–a case study of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Smith, A. (2010). The development of “sports-city” zones and their potential value as tourism resources for urban areas. European Planning Studies, 18(3), 385-410.