Dubai Sports Council allows academies and coaching clinics in private educational institutions to reopen

The Dubai Sports Council (DSC) has announced sports academies and coaching clinics based in the emirates' private educational institutions can open for business, on the condition they adhere to the Covid-19 safety guidelines issued by Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management and other authorities.

The DSC has issued a detailed list of protocols, which were framed in collaboration with the Knowledge and Human Development Authority of Dubai and which the academies need to comply with in order to reopen their doors for business.

The academies, among other things, will have to make sure they maintain hygiene and sanitisation requirements as mandated by authorities, which includes maintaining a regular cleaning regime, and ensuring safe distancing is maintained at all times.

Age limitations, however, still remain. Children below the age of 12 and elders above 60 are not allowed to take part in the activities at these academies.

Academies which meet the safety requirements and wish to resume their coaching and training activities, must obtain the approval of DSC by registering through www.dubaisc.ae/sportspermitundercovid19.

Teams from DSC will visit the facilities that are allowed to resume their sports activities to ensure they comply with all the safety guidelines and protocols.

The list of sports facilities in private educational institutions which the DSC has allowed academies to use include cricket and football pitches; tennis, volleyball, basketball and volleyball courts; running tracks, indoor sports halls, fitness centres and swimming pools.

Earlier, public and private swimming pools were permitted to reopen and water sports activities allowed to resume in Dubai.

The decision to allow academies at educational institutions to resume business is part of a series of decisions taken by DSC to gradually reopen the sports sector following months-long closure due to the pandemic.

Also, the Abu Dhabi Sport Council (ADSC) had set out the guidelines for sport's return.

Regular temperature checks and quarantine areas for suspected coronavirus cases are part of the comprehensive list of regulations by ADSC. According to the rules in the capital, facilities must be sterilised after every training period of two hours while the the use of dressing rooms and showers is prohibited.

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Company Fact Box

Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019

Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO

Based: Amman, Jordan

Sector: Education Technology

Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed

Stage: early-stage startup

Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.

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Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer