His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has affirmed that the sports industry is one of the significant sectors that the UAE pays close attention to and cares for in a manner that improves the capabilities of various sports teams to win local championships and perform well on the internation stage.

Sheikh Mohammed said after receiving a delegation of Shabab Al Ahli Club, the winners of Adnoc Pro League 2022– 2023 season, in the presence of Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Finance; Sheikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Second Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Shabab Al Ahli Club; and Sheikh Mansour Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council.

Sheikh Mohammed congratulated the members of the club’s board of directors, the players, and the technical and administrative staff for the club’s achievement.

He also praised the wonderful performance shown by the team’s players and the efforts they made throughout the tournament, whose matches were highly competitive due to the close level of the participating teams.

Addressing the players, Sheikh Mohammed said, “With your efforts, determination, persistence, team spirit, and understanding, victory was yours. It is possible for you to get first place, but the biggest challenge is to maintain it.”

His Highness called on them to continue their perseverance and diligence to reach higher levels of excellence, and wished them all success in the upcoming tournaments.

Sheikh Mohammed took memorial photos with the players, the club’s sponsors, and its technical and administrative staff.

Players expressed joy at Sheikh Mohammed’s gesture. They also expressed sincere gratitude for the inspiring words he spoke to them during the meeting, which had a significant impact on them, emphasised their resolve to step up their efforts in order to achieve their goal of winning more championships.

The meeting was attended by Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs; Mattar Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council; Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mai Dubai; and Saeed Khalifa Suleiman, Chief of Protocol, Vice President, and Prime Minister of the UAE. Issam Bin Issa Al Humaidan, Attorney General of the Emirate of Dubai; General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri, Director General of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai; and Hisham Al Qassim, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Emirates NBD Group.

Shabab Al Ahli won the 2022/23 Adnoc Pro League with one round to spare, marking the club’s first UAE championship since their 2017 merger.

Recently, Al Tayer received the delegation of Shabab Al-Ahli Club comprising representatives from the club’s Board of Directors and some of their prominent players.

Al Tayer congratulated Shabab Al-Ahli Club for winning this title; the 8th in the club’s history since the launch of the UAE Football League competition, and the 4th since the implementation of the Pro League.

He confirmed that this achievement reflects the wise leadership and proper directives of Sheikh Hamdan, Sheikh Maktoum, Sheikh Ahmed and Sheikh Mansoor.

He explained that it is according to Their Highnesses’ proper directives and wise leadership, that Shabab Al-Ahli club has attained excellence and gained titles.

He also referred to the hard efforts exerted by Khalifa Saeed Sulaiman, the Board Member of the club, to implement these directives, besides his eminent role toward the ideal nomination of technical and administrative staff and players.

Al Tayer praised the teamwork and the successful system of work, followed by the Club’s respective bodies to present one of the best seasons in terms of the technical performance and the tough competitions among participating teams.

He said that technical success in the stadium depends mainly on the administrative success, distinctive management, nomination of the best players and smooth dealing with the various challenges throughout the season.