Picture used for illustrative purpose only.

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

Tunisian fencer Ines Boubakri, winner of a bronze medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and Frenchwoman Laura Georges, one of the top stars of international women’s football, will headline a virtual forum being organised by the Women’s Sports Committee of Dubai Sports Council to discuss the challenges being faced by women’s sport in the times of COVID-19.

The “International Forum for Women and Sports” will take place on July 22, between 11am and 12.30pm, on video conferencing app Zoom, and will feature a number of prominent UAE and regional advocates and officials of women’s sports, including Sheikha Shamsa Bint Hasher Al Maktoum, Board Member of the UAE Volleyball Association, Mouza Ibrahim Mohamed Al Suwaidi, Undersecretary at the UAE Ministry of Community Development, and Rawda Al Mahrazi, Chairperson of Women’s Sports Committee.

Mahrazi will make the opening address before Suwaidi takes centre stage, sharing her insight on the “Impact of COVID-19 on women’s and community sport” in the opening session.

The second session – titled “The future of women’s sport in light of the current challenges” – will feature Sheikha Shamsa alongside Kuwait’s Sheikha Naima Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, head of the Organizing Committee for Women’s Games in the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Georges, who is the Secretary General of French Football Federation, and Boubakri, a winner of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Creative Sports Award and an MBR Sports Creativity Ambassador, will then discuss the “Impact of COVID-19 on the performance of sportswomen” in the third session alongside Nadia Khadim, captain of Al Wasl’s women’s volleyball team.

In the fourth session, Naqbi, Director General of Sharjah Women's Sports, and Dr Mai Al Jaber, who is a Board member of Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Sports Academy, will discuss institutional support for the future of women’s sports programmes.

Fouzeya Faridoon, Manager of Dubai Sports Council’s Women’s Sports Development section and Manager of Women’s Sports Committee, will then bring the curtains down on the forum by enumerating on the conclusions and recommendations made by the panellists.

Recently, Dubai Sports Council in collaboration with La Liga organised a webinar titled ‘Football Clubs Strategy for Recovery Post COVID-19’.

The event attracted 169 participants, including top officials from football clubs in Spain and the UAE.

The webinar saw extensive discussions as the panellists shared their insights on the way forward for the football industry in the near future.

The list of panelist included top officials from the four Dubai football clubs — Dr Khalid Al Zahed, executive director of Shabab Al Ahli Dubai; Saeed Ali Al Amri, executive director of Al Nasr; Humaid Yousuf, director of the football section at Al Wasl club; and Ali Al Bedwawi, executive director of Hatta Club. Daniel Barriga, the LaLiga delegate for UAE, and media specialist Sami Al Emam were the moderators.

Now, as leagues resume cautiously, all of them have had to play behind closed doors without fans or a very limited number of fans, which obviously hurts the clubs financially in terms of gate-money. More importantly, playing in front of empty stands might not be such an exciting prospect for the players, even though they are professionals.

La Liga has been a close partner of the DSC while coordinating on several fronts to promote football in Dubai and the UAE.