UAE Football
We support our local and national community through a range of activities. Foremost is our partnership with the UAE Football Association and sponsorship of the UAE national football team.
Giant UAE football jersey displayed at the 18th Gulf Cup matches
We have been the UAE Football Association’s official partner since 2005. We believe that supporting sport, and particularly football - the number one sport in the UAE - is an effective way to get closer to our community. We aim to promote key messages to the community though our partnership, focusing on education, fan spirit and culture: some examples are given below.
The coaches seminar: Tomorrow's Coaches
Guy Lacombe at 'Tommorow's Coaches' seminar
With “Tomorrow's Coaches”, we are applying our general commitment to improving UAE management skills to grassroots football. We have invited French football coach Guy Lacombe (trainer of Zinedine Zidane and Didier Drogba) to share his vision of grassroots with more than 100 UAE coaches from across the country.
UAE FA Fans Group
As the number one supporter of our national football team, we were inspired to create the first official fan group. The website (www.dhfootball.com - an Arabic language site) allows UAE supporters to contact each other, share their passion in the forum and receive constant information about the team. Today, there are more than 1,500 official active members.
Giant UAE jersey
Fans signing the giant UAE football jersey
We symbolised our support for the UAE football team during the 18th Gulf Cup with the largest football jersey in the region: a 17m x 20m UAE national team jersey. It was signed by more than 20,000 people from all over the UAE, showing their support for the team before the competition. It became one of the symbols of the Gulf Cup’s victory in the hearts of UAE fans.
Fujairah camp football
In the summer of 2007, an Arabic daily newspaper raised the issue that the children of Fujairah do not currently have proper football facilities. We therefore plan to set up a football camp before the summer break in 2008, so that they can play in suitable surroundings.