When it came to being a part of one of the biggest sporting projects, Malcolm Thorpe just had to be involved. Football, rugby, cricket, hockey, tennis and golf. This is what life is all about for Thorpe as he helps shape the future of sport in the UAE with the US$3billion (Dh11bn) Dubai Sports City project.
Thorpe, 43, is someone who has been involved in multi-million pound deals and contracts with a host of sporting stars and companies. He was a lawyer with the world-famous IMG group, which represents top stars like Tiger Woods and Roger Federer. "I went to public school and then university, but had no idea what I wanted to do so I became a lawyer and left my options open," said the Englishman. "I worked in London and then a colleague went to IMG and joined their legal department. I joined later and worked on contracts in Europe and Asia. I wrote the representation agreement for Martina Hingis when she was 12.
"I worked on the Littlewoods deal when it was the title sponsor for the English FA Cup for the first time. That was a big event and gave me a lot of satisfaction as the cup has so much history." Dubai's transformation has also amazed him as he revealed: "When I came to Dubai before, I never saw much sport. It was always airport, taxi hotel, meetings and same on the way back. "I got a feel of the city before, but nothing like it is now. I had been in Hong Kong for seven-eight years and needed a change. This is a fresh start and I got excited about the opportunity; to have a legacy of creating one-off events, structure and create facilities from the bottom.
"There is nothing like this anywhere in the sports world and it's an amazing opportunity to be part of that. It is a little scary, doing it all on the scale that we are, and in the time that we want to do it. "I am excited and some of my old colleagues are a bit jealous!" So what is Thorpe's own vision for Dubai Sports City, what will get him excited? "My dream would be to see England's football team take on Brazil at a packed Dubai Sports City for an international match," he smiled. "It will prove we are on the right track.
"We know there are other venues and sports clubs; there are other facilities, other soccer schools, but we have to make sure ours are the best available. "We know our stadiums won't be packed every day, all year round. That's unrealistic, but we want to provide things that people have not had yet and as the city develops and continues to develop then we could benefit from that. 'The indoor arena will probably be the busiest, but we hope we have something that people in Dubai will be proud of and we can all share in its success. What is important is that this is a long-term project.
"The reality is we are only just now getting started. With stadiums being built, we can start making specific plans and having real discussions about what events we might be able to stage, whether it is a cricket or football tournament or the Olympics. It is hard work and things take time, but it is fascinating living here. It is probably the most fascinating city in the world. "We will have the facilities and it is just a question of how best to use them," he said. "We have had discussions with the Dubai Management Event Company and hopefully we can work together to achieve the same ambition of making this city a major sports venue and base.
"We have had discussions with Super 14 teams about pre-season training bases, but also the idea of a Super 14 team franchise based out of Dubai. "There is also every likelihood of a Dubai franchise in the Indian Premier League. Would we be the sole investor? Probably not. Would there be potential partners? Absolutely. "It has been said the IPL does not want to expand or look at non-Indian franchises just yet, but you just never know. It has been a success and we are in touch with [the IPL commissioner] Lalit Modi about it.
"The NBA are already looking to expand into Europe and it is not yet clear whether that will mean expansion teams or new ones and where they are based. "The NBA are also looking at the Middle East region and it is only a matter of time before they make inroads. "Ice hockey is another possibility and we have been looking at the idea of East European teams taking part here. "The NHL could be another future option."
@Email:akhan@thenational.ae
