UAE to host Asia Rugby conference

Four-day event explores opportunities for ‘growing the game’ both on and off the pitch

UAE Rugby recently hosted the annual Asia Rugby Conference for 2017, which focused on ‘leading rugby’ and ‘growing the game’ within Asian unions. The fourday conference was held in Dubai from September 14 to 17.

“UAE Rugby was extremely honoured to be the host for the 2017 Asia Rugby Conference, and we were exceptionally pleased to have the full, and unwavering support of World Rugby,” said Qais Al Dalai, secretary-general of both UAE Rugby and Asia Rugby.

For the first two-days, 17 delegates from 10 countries participated in the conference’s ‘leading rugby’ focus, discussing and analysing aspects of governance, administration, capitalising on commercial opportunities and effective communication tools. The conference then moved into the two-day ‘growing the game’ focus, where a historic 44 representatives from 24 countries were actively involved in workshops and presentations including: growing girls and women’s participation, safeguarding and player welfare, and World Rugby’s ‘Impact Beyond RWC 2019’.

Ambitious project

“Asia Rugby has embarked on an ambitious plan to increase its rugby population by an additional one million new participants, through the Asia One Million project,” said Al Dalai. “On behalf of UAE Rugby, and Asia Rugby, I extend our sincere gratitude to all unions who attended, and to the presenters for sharing their expertise and knowledge on best practices that each union can adapt and incorporate into their everyday management. I am delighted that all delegates were energised from this conference, and we look forward to working with each union in our bid to make Rugby in Asia the leading sport.”