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29 March 2024

UAE to host Gulf Rugby Sevens tournament

Published
By Staff with Agencies

The UAE plans to host an inter-Arabian Gulf Rugby Sevens tournament to boost the sport regionally, ahead of the 2014 Asian Games and the 2016 Olympics.

The event is also part of a drive to get Sevens into the West Asian Games, UAE Rugby Association chief executive Ian Bremner said.

Officials have held talks with rugby's world governing body, the International Rugby Board (IRB), and plan to stage the four-nation event in November.

"We've just applied last week to the IRB to run a... tournament here with Lebanon, Iran, Saudi Arabia and ourselves," Bremner told reporters.

"It's a West Asian Sevens competition and this is obviously on the route towards the Asian Games."

Bremner said the IRB had encouraged the UAE to invigorate the sport within the region. "This is our first step in terms of hosting that tournament," he said.

"We'd be very happy for any of the other teams attending to host another leg of that next year."

The UAE's rugby chiefs are looking to increase the number of nationals playing the game with a view to future involvement in the Asian and Olympic Games.

The sport will feature in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea and also for the first time at an Olympics in Rio de Janeiro 2016.

UAE Rugby’s domestic season will officially start on September 28. Kicking off the season is the UAE calendar’s top-tier tournament, the UAE Premiership.

“This year’s UAE Rugby Premiership and Conference will comprise six and nine teams respectively, with Abu Dhabi Saracens in only their second year of League rugby playing in the Premiership for the first time. Both competitions will conclude with grand finals, which will also add to the overall attraction of the competitions,” said Bremner.

Boosting the calendar is the women’s, girls’, schools’ and youth league fixtures, which will involve women’s 15 aside for the first time.

“We are very excited to see, year by year, the increase in the number of domestic fixtures at all levels,” added UAE Rugby’s deputy general secretary Qais Al Dhalai.

“We consider strong domestic competitions as being a key building block in improving standards at representative level.”

Meanwhile, the IRB has advised that UAE Rugby will not be eligible to compete in the 2012 Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens tournament, and as such UAE Rugby will not participate.

Mohammed Falaknaz, Chairman of UAERA said: "We fully respect and understand the IRB decision as elite performance Unions enter a four-year cycle of preparation for the 2016 Olympic Games. UAE Rugby still has plans to participate annually in the Dubai Sevens and the Asian Sevens Series as part of our ongoing performance development plans.”

IRB Head of Development and Performance Mark Egan said: “While UAE will not be competing in the HSBC Sevens World Series event at this year’s 2012 Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens, the future for Rugby in the UAE is bright. From a Rugby Sevens perspective, the UAERA is putting in place some very exciting plans with a view towards qualification for the Asian Games in 2014 and future Olympic Games.”