Sports Day to coincide with National Day

The country’s first National Sports Day will take place on December 2 – coinciding with the 44th National Day celebrations.

On the orders of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the event was approved on Sunday by Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammad, chairman of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation and president of the National Olympic Committee (NOC).

The theme for the inaugural National Sports Day will be UAE Brings Us Together, the state news agency Wam reported.

Approval came during a meeting chaired by Sheikh Ahmed and attended by officials including Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, and Dr Abdul Rahman Al Owais, Minister of Health, chairman of the Board of the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare and first deputy chairman of the NOC.

All government departments and private sector organisations are expected to participate.

Sheikh Ahmed said the theme of the event reflected Sheikh Mohammed’s vision for a healthy and happy life for people. Last year, the NOC staged the first National Olympic Day – a one-day event.

Nearly 500 sportsmen and women from every emirate competed for symbolic medals in seven events, staged across the country.

Entertainment came in the form of Emiratis Saoud Al Kaabi and Fayez Al Saeed, who performed the UAE Olympic song they wrote as ambassadors for the NOC.