Page 37 - Ministry of Sports PR Report - October 2024

10/24/24, 10:13 AM Ministry of Sports leads 'Future of Sports Retreat' to explore ways to enhance sports development, advance National Sports Strat…
The retreat provided participants an opportunity to reflect the significance of collaboration and
combined efforts among all partners in the sports sector to achieve the core objectives of the initial

phase of National Sports Strategy 2031. In less than a year, the UAE sports community has realized
a completion rate of approximately 95 percent of all eight high-priority projects in the first phase of
the new national sports strategy. Core pillars of the UAE's sports strategy include increasing the

community member participation in sports to 75 percent by 2031, raising the number of athletes
qualifying for the Olympic Games to over 30 by the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, and intensifying
efforts to boost the sports sector's contribution to the non-oil GDP, aiming for 0.5 per cent by 2031.

The "Future of Sports Retreat" program featured a series of brainstorming sessions that focussed on
five key topics: Youth and Sports, University Sports, Sports and International Public Diplomacy,
Expanding Olympic Participation, and Identifying and Supporting Development of Elite Athletes.

Additionally, the event honoured athletes who participated in the Paris 2024 Olympic and
Paralympic Games, for their exceptional performances during the event and their significant
contributions to enhancing the UAE's positive reputation on the global sports scene.

The retreat concluded with a series of key recommendations and announcements, the most
noteworthy being the launch of the inaugural University Games. The University Games is a program

designed to enable exceptional athletes at universities across the UAE to compete against each other
on a national stage. The University Games will feature competition in three sports -- football,
basketball, and volleyball -- with participation from 21 universities across the emirates.

The University Games is structured to help facilitate the process of discovering and nurturing sports
talent in support of the national sports strategy objective of expanding the base of sports
participation among students in schools and universities while fostering a culture of professionalism

and enabling a new generation of elite athletes in the region.

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