‘This is a time to celebrate and bring people together’
The 2019 Asian Cup begins on Saturday as the UAE get set to host the tournament for the second time.
Aref Al Awani, the general secretary of Abu Dhabi Sports Council and director of the Local Organising Committee, explains why the event matters, how being a volunteer in 1996 was so important to him, and his overall expectations.
On the lessons learnt from Australia’s 2015 tournament
“We got a lot of good ideas and have developed their ideas so that they are tailor-made to the UAE, whichwas important to do to get their experiences.
“It is easy here because of our infrastructure such as the hotels and the people living in the UAE or for visitors. We have developed a lot of things here, too, such as the city fan zones.
“I’m telling people that this a time for celebration for everybody. We have half of Asia here so it’s a time to bring people together through football.
“We have 11 Arabic teams from the 24 nations, new teams like the Philippines and Yemen who will have a lot of support, especially from people who live here in the UAE.
“Having a rotation of the teams playing in different cities is one thing which we think will drive attendances and let people see more games.”
On volunteering at the tournament in 1996
“I used to be a volunteer in 1996 in PR at the stadiums and hotels. I learnt a lot from this. I learnt to serve my country and be part of an event that everybody was proud of and everybody talks about.
“I gained so much experience that I transferred to others and other aspects of life. You take great pride in helping your country to host events. It is always going to be something that you can take great satisfaction from. There are challenges but it is a great thing to learn.”
On crowd-size expectations at the stadiums
“We hope so and we are aiming for good attendances although we know some games will be difficult, but we are ready. We want full houses for the UAE national team, and other teams like Saudi Arabia have huge support.”
On what will be the tournament legacy
“It’s a time to develop our quality at international level. We have had this for a long time. We are looking forward. I think it’s the time for sport in the UAE to have champions in all sports – teams or individuals.
“Now it’s the time to develop the talents of young people and create programmes to help them achieve their goals. Asian Cup can provide a platform of sporting awareness to encourage people to take up sport and achieve new things. We are focused on this.”