United Arab Emirates Rugby Federation
The United Arab Emirates Rugby Federation, or UAE Rugby, is the governing body for rugby union in United Arab Emirates. It organises and oversees local rugby, including the annual Dubai Sevens and Dubai Women's Sevens. It became affiliated to World Rugby (then known as IRB) and Asia Rugby in 2012 as a full status member.
| إتحاد الإمارات العربية المتحدة للرجبي | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Sport | Rugby union |
| Founded | 2009 |
| World Rugby affiliation | 2012 |
| Asia Rugby affiliation | 2012 |
| Website | uaerugby |
History
editPrior to the establishment of a national governing body for UAE, rugby across the Arabian Peninsula was administered by the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union (AGRFU) which had been founded in 1974 [1][2] and oversaw rugby until the end of 2010 in 6 member countries: UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar.[3][4]
World Rugby's governance restructuring project for the West Asia region resulted in AGRFU being broken up into separate unions for each member country.[5][6] The UAE Rugby Federation was the first to be formed in 2009 and the UAE national team inherited the former Arabian Gulf team's world ranking.[2]
In 2021, UAE Rugby signed an agreement with GymNation as their new UAE Rugby Federation Representative 15s and 7s teams' official sponsor, providing gym access to all UAE Rugby players
Board of directors
editThe federation was established by Chairman's Office decree No. 20 of the General Authority for Sports in 2009. It is chaired by Sheikh Mohammed bin Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum. The board of directors for 2016-2021 is as follows:
- Faisal Abdulaziz Alzarooni - Vice Chairman
- Qais Abdulla Aldhalai - Vice Chairman
- Mohamed Sultan Alzaabi - Secretary General
- Saood Belshalat - Treasurer
- Mohammad Ahmed Shaker - Board Member
- Salman Mahmood Hadi - Board Member
- Fawzia Mohammed Faridoon - Board Member
- Ibrahim Nasser Buhamer - Board Member
Management
edit
- Executive Director - Hazem Hassan
- High Performance Manager - Apollo Perelini
- Training and Education Manager - Sami Smara
- Support Services Manager - Nezar Mehran
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Asia Rugby Championship Division 1 2017 / RWC 2019 Qualifier". Asia Rugby. 10 May 2017. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017.
- ^ a b Hammond, Ashley (25 July 2010). "End of an era for Arabian Gulf". Gulf News. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
- ^ "Clubs playing in the AGRFU". AGRFU. Archived from the original on 16 April 2010.
- ^ "The Arabian Gulf RFU". AGRFU. Archived from the original on 28 April 2010.
- ^ "Major boost for West Asia" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 2009-01-16. Archived from the original on 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
- ^ Ousman, Allaam (12 August 2010). "Ex-diplomat oversees changes in Gulf rugby". Emirates 24/7. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011.