The UAE women's seven-a-side football team celebrate after winning the Armed Forces Officers Club 13th Open Sports Festival tournament.
The UAE women's seven-a-side football team celebrate after winning the Armed Forces Officers Club 13th Open Sports Festival tournament.
The UAE women's seven-a-side football team celebrate after winning the Armed Forces Officers Club 13th Open Sports Festival tournament.
The UAE women's seven-a-side football team celebrate after winning the Armed Forces Officers Club 13th Open Sports Festival tournament.

UAE ready for women's football


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The UAE could have an official national women's football team in the near future if the plans of the UAE Women's Football Committee come to fruition. The committee, formed in June, also want to launch a national women's football league by 2012 and host international tournaments. First, though, they are starting with the basics: encouraging Emirati girls to pull on a pair of football boots. Backed by the UAE Football Association (FA) and the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, the committee was formed as part of a UAE FA initiative to increase the presence of women's football in the country.

"The immediate task is to build the awareness of the women's committee and find out how many of our children are playing football," said committee chairman Hafsa al Ulama. "We know there are a lot of them, but we don't know where or when they play or if they know there is any body representing them." "This is a sport everybody likes. We know girls like to play it. We know they are playing it in schools."

Abu Dhabi Women's Football Club was formed five years ago by a group of friends with a love of the sport. Now, the team has grown and they have their own facilities at Abu Dhabi Country Club. Al Ulama hopes the eight Emiratis playing in the side can form the basis of the country's first national team. If they can find more Emiratis. "Looking at the population this is always a problem, it is a small place with a small population that you are talking about," she said.

"This will always be a problem. It will be a challenge to find enough people. We need to have 25-30 good players for a national team, so we can have 11 good players who can play." She may have luck finding players in Dubai. A group of Emiratis have been using facilities at Dubai Ladies Club (DLC). Formed in 2004, the team now has 18 players, 14 of whom are Emirati. "The enthusiasm is definitely there. They could hold their own in a league," said DLC wellness manager Maddie Stocks.

One of the first goals of the national women's committee is to develop a grassroots programme, working in partnership with schools and sports clubs. "We have already started a programme for kids in Abu Dhabi, during term time we have about 30 girls from local schools and the girls from the Abu Dhabi women's team teach them how to play," said al Ulama. "They are aged between nine and 11 and come once or twice a week.

"It is very popular in the schools. A small festival of football took place in Abu Dhabi about a year ago and around 400 girls took part. Girls aged from eight to 11 were playing football and were so excited about it." Al Ulama's vision is simple: she wants women to have the same opportunities to play football as men. Having supported the Abu Dhabi Women's Football Club, which includes eight Emiratis, she is confident there is a pool of talent in the country.

"The launch of the committee is the first step in the right direction, the next step is to reach out to different clubs and communities throughout the Emirates," she said. The committee have been doing their homework, taking notes from existing women's football programmes in other Asian countries and working closely with the FA to ensure they develop women's football in a sustainable way. "About four months ago, we had a meeting in Jordan organised by Fifa, where we heard about the experiences of countries across Asia," Al Ulama said.

"It was interesting to find out what countries like Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon and Bangladesh have done for women's football and exchange notes. "We are starting now so we have done the initial stages in Abu Dhabi. We never had the recognition before, but now that we are under the umbrella of the FA and the Abu Dhabi Sports Council to develop women's football we have the legitimacy. "The FA have been very helpful. We will have new offices at their headquarters in Abu Dhabi. We will have ongoing meetings with them to see how they can help us promote this sport across the UAE."

In addition to continuing and growing the after-schools programme in Abu Dhabi, the committee will be running a four-day Fifa-certified coaching course in October, aiming to train a new generation of female coaches, assistants and referees. sports@thenational.ae

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Champions League Last 16

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Sporting Lisbon (POR) v Manchester City (ENG) 

Benfica (POR) v Ajax (NED) 

Chelsea (ENG) v Lille (FRA) 

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At a glance - Zayed Sustainability Prize 2020

Launched: 2008

Categories: Health, energy, water, food, global high schools

Prize: Dh2.2 million (Dh360,000 for global high schools category)

Winners’ announcement: Monday, January 13

 

Impact in numbers

335 million people positively impacted by projects

430,000 jobs created

10 million people given access to clean and affordable drinking water

50 million homes powered by renewable energy

6.5 billion litres of water saved

26 million school children given solar lighting

if you go

The flights

Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.

The hotel

Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.

The tour

Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg

THE BIO

Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979

Education: UAE University, Al Ain

Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6

Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma

Favourite book: Science and geology

Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC

Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.

Company profile

Name: GiftBag.ae

Based: Dubai

Founded: 2011

Number of employees: 4

Sector: E-commerce

Funding: Self-funded to date

Company Profile 

Founder: Omar Onsi

Launched: 2018

Employees: 35

Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)

Investors: B&Y, Phoenician Funds, M1 Group, Shorooq Partners

THE SPECS

Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine 

Power: 420kW

Torque: 780Nm

Transmission: 8-speed automatic

Price: From Dh1,350,000

On sale: Available for preorder now

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Cryopreservation: A timeline
  1. Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
  2. Ovarian tissue surgically removed
  3. Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
  4. Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
  5. Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
Why it pays to compare

A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.

Route 1: bank transfer

The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.

Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount

Total received: €4,670.30 

Route 2: online platform

The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.

Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction

Total received: €4,756

The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.

The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

On sale: Now

How to register as a donor

1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention

2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants

3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register. 

4) The campaign uses the hashtag  #donate_hope

Infiniti QX80 specs

Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6

Power: 450hp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000

Available: Now

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
If you go

The flights Etihad (www.etihad.com) and Spice Jet (www.spicejet.com) fly direct from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Pune respectively from Dh1,000 return including taxes. Pune airport is 90 minutes away by road. 

The hotels A stay at Atmantan Wellness Resort (www.atmantan.com) costs from Rs24,000 (Dh1,235) per night, including taxes, consultations, meals and a treatment package.
 

How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE

When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.

The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo

Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 6-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km

Price: Dh133,900

On sale: now