MENA

Given the stiffling summer heat in the Gulf region, most sports events take place between October and April. However, there have been attempts to stage indoor air-conditioned events, particularly the annual Dubai Sports World, which from June until August offers football, basketball, volleyball and tennis facilities to amateurs.

Deloitte estimates that the sponsorship spend for sports events in Dubai alone is about $100m per year, with 70 per cent of that figure attributed to the seven biggest events.

When it comes to sports broadcasting, you might say the UAE has lucked out with its time zone. “Around 2.2 billion people across Asia, Europe and Africa live in the four time zones either side of Dubai, making it ideally situated to capture a global television audience,” Deloitte’s Economic Impact of Sport in Dubai report states.

World Sailing has said it will launch a strategic review of its showpiece Sailing World Cup series and has stated Abu Dhabi has withdrawn its hosting rights to the finale of the ongoing 2016 season.

Just over a decade on from the famous tennis publicity stunt atop a skyscraper in Dubai, Dominic Bliss looks at how the UAE sports industry has evolved and where it is heading.

World Sailing is searching for a new venue for its 2016 Youth Sailing World Championships after the Oman Sailing Committee withdrew its hosting rights for the annual event.

The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) has said that ‘misunderstandings’ with security at its Beach Volleyball World Tour event in Iran were to blame for female spectators being denied entry to the ongoing competition.

The International Aquatics Federation (Fina) has awarded its 2021 and 2023 World Championships and World Masters Championships to Fukuoka and Doha, respectively, while it has suspended the Mexican Swimming Federation (FMN) over Guadalajara’s withdrawal of hosting rights to the 2017 event.

The Ethics Commission of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) is investigating bids from the Qatari capital of Doha for its 2017 and 2019 World Championships, it emerged today (Tuesday).

Kuwait's appeals court has overturned a prison sentence handed to Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, one of the most influential figures in the Olympic movement and world sport.

Kuwait Olympic Committee (KOC) president Sheikh Talal Al Fahad Al Sabah has hit out at the “serious escalation” of government interference that could lead to the country’s athletes being unable to compete at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Muscat in Oman has been confirmed as the host city for the first stop of the year on the Extreme Sailing Series calendar.

Hans-Peter Zurbruegg, a senior executive for the Infront Sports & Media agency, has been handed another remit in the endurance sports sector by being appointed managing director of the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) division of the Ironman triathlon series.

The Kuwaiti government has filed a $1.3bn (€1.2bn) lawsuit against 14 board members of the Gulf state’s Olympic committee, including Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah.

The Formula E electric auto racing championship is targeting a race in the Middle East for its third season, as it continues a gradual expansion plan.

Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo has entered into a partnership with Smaaash Entertainment, a sports entertainment company co-owned by Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar.