ABU DHABI // The Abu Dhabi Sports Council is to host sporting events for both the professional athletes and amateurs uring the fasting month of Ramadan.
Using the theme of “stay active and healthy”, the Abu Dhabi Sports Festival consists of 13 sporting disciplines for men, women and juniors and opens Thursday with a gala opening ceremony at the Armed Forces Officers Club.
The highlights of the Festival includes the five-a-side indoor football and volleyball tournaments for both men and women, boxing, jiu-jitsu, judo, wrestling, cross-fit, cycling, shooting and 3X3 Basketball World Tour. The events will be staged across venues at the Abu Dhabi Exhibition Centre (Adnec), Yas Marina Circuit, Carcal Club, Family Development Foundation and Abu Dhabi Country Club.
The second staging of the Abu Dhabi Tour – the professional cycling race which will be run over four stages in the emirate from October 20 to 23 – also sets its promotion wheels in motion with spinning classes and day-long Kids Art Labs on a dedicated stand.
“Our goal in the Abu Dhabi Sports Festival is to encourage families and individuals who do not normally go to gyms or sport clubs,” said Aref Al Awani, ADSC’s general secretary.
“We have partnered with the Abu Dhabi Tour to enrich the programme with cycling-related activities.”
Classes run daily at 8.30pm and 10.30pm during Ramadan and thrice-daily from July 9 till August 5. All participants will receive a special Abu Dhabi Tour promotional T-shirts.
Those wanting to sign up for the cycling classes can do via MAAlneyadi@adsc.abudhabi.ae or register at the general accreditation desk beside Adnec’s entrance.
In the Kids Art Labs children get to develop their drawing skills under the supervision of an Abu Dhabi Tour promoter.
All the drawings will be exhibited at Abu Dhabi Tour Art at the final stage on October 23 and have the chance to win a kid’s bike.
Coinciding with the Abu Dhabi Sports Festival are the Zayed Sports City Ramadan Bowling Championship and the Abu Dhabi Cricket Council’s Farlin Ramadan Twenty20 Cup.
The bowling championship has Dh140,000 prize money up for grabs and the T20 Cup has drawn nine teams across the country vying for the winner’s prize of Dh25,000. The runner-up will receive Dh10,000.
National team bowlers Hussain Al Suwaidi, Mahmoud Al Attar and Naif Oqab along with the former World Cup winner Mohammed Al Qubaisi and his son Sultan are among the confirmed entries.
Samantha Hannan will also return to defend her title and intends to compete in the Open category.
She will be bowling alongside other members of the UAE national team who competed in the prestigious World Bowling Women’s Championship in December 2015, as well as other expat bowlers.
In addition to the youth, amateur (for bowlers with averages of 185 or below), and the high-powered open divisions, the disabled category will run from June 12-13, in partnership with the UAE Disabled Sports Federation.
Schedule
• June 9 to 30 from 10pm to 1am at Adnec: Men’s five-a-side football
• June 9 from 11pm to 1am at Adnec: Wrestling
• June 9 to 30 from 10pm to 12.30am at Abu Dhabi Country Club: Pedal tennis
• June 10 from 10pm to 1pm at Adnec: Judo
• June 10, 11, 16, 17,18, 24 and 25 from 9pm to 2am at Adnec: Men’s volleyball at Adnec: 3X3 Basketball World Tour
• June 13 and 14 from 10pm to 12am at Family Development Foundation: Women’s five-a-side football
• June 14, 19, 26 and 29 from 9.30pm to 1am at Carcal Club: Shooting (men and women)
• June 19 from 9.30pm to 11pm at Yas Marina Circuit: Running
• June 19 to July 2 from 10pm to 1am at Adnec: PlayStation
• June 20 and 21 from 10pm to 12am at Family Development Foundation: Volleyball (women)
• June 21 from 9.30pm to 1am at Yas Marina Circuit: Cycling
• June 23 to 25 from 10pm to 1am at Adnec: Cross-fit championships
• June 23 and 24 from 10pm to 12.30pm at Adnec: Boxing
• June 30 and July 1 from 10pm to 1am at Adnec: Jiu-Jitsu
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Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
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