H.H. Sheikh Nahyan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Sports Council, said that the generous support of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, had helped in the development of the sports sector, which is important for economic and tourism development.

Sheikh Nahyan, who chaired the periodic meeting of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council Board of Directors today, called on all the clubs and sports bodies at the national level to support the Al Jazira team, which will represent the UAE in the competitions of FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2017, as a reflection of the true values of the UAE people and their firm ties with the club while uniting to raise high the nation’s flag in the international carnival.

The members of the Council are Major General Mohammed Khalfan Al Rumaithi, Commander-in-Chief of Abu Dhabi Police and Deputy Chairman of Abu Dhabi Sports Council, Mohammed Ali Fadil Al Hamili, Mohamed Ibrahim Mahmoud Mohammed Al Mahmoud, Dr. Ali Saleh Ali Mohammed bin Tamim, Dr. Matar Rashid Mohammed Salim Al Haita Al Darmaki, Abdullah Abdulreda Abdullah Mahmoud Al Khouri, Hamad Ali Mohammed Al Qadi Al Dhahiri and Faisal Abdullah Abdulqader Othman Al Sheikh.

The meeting included the demonstration of the plans for the international sports events in the upcoming five years from 2018 to 2022.

Sheikh Nahyan emphasised the necessity of studying the economic and media revenues for all the events mentioned in the plan and viewed the general budget of the sports sector in Abu Dhabi for 2018.

He agreed to reform the Board of Directors of the Abu Dhabi Chess Club for the upcoming term 2017-2021, headed by Hussein Abdullah Al Khouri.

He also agreed on the formation of the investment committee, headed by Major General Mohammed Khalfan Al Rumaithi, to discuss the investment opportunities with the private sector and develop the subsidiary lands of the Council to serve the community, in terms of sports and health, as well as achieve the social development goals of the Abu Dhabi Government plan.

Sheikh Nahyan also examined the reports of the Council’s internal audit office, which are related to the administrative and financial aspects of the clubs, and approved many decisions to achieve a balanced financial performance, pointing out to the need to track the financial and administrative performance, and commit to transparency while examining the quarterly reports for any overruns by the club administrations.

Sheikh Nahyan accepted the suggestion to structure Abu Dhabi’s five clubs, Al Ain, Al Jazira, Al Wahda, Baniyas, and Al Dhafra, and recommended unifying the support services, in addition to committing to the new suggestions to be executed in 2018. He also recommended a study on the feasibility of the Boards of Directors for football and other sports companies.

He also praised the education, awareness and training provided by the Sports Care Programme, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council.

Accompanied by Aref Hamad Al Awani, General Secretary of Abu Dhabi Sports Council, Sheikh Nahyan viewed the new press conference hall at the Council’s headquarters in Zayed Sports City, which is equipped with the latest equipment and technologies and will host all the press conferences of the clubs and sports bodies subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Sports Council, along with their partners and sponsors, in an effort to unify the media coverage of Abu Dhabi sports.