Dubai: A seminar on Indian Premier League (IPL) will be held as part of the Host Cities two-day summit starting at the Ritz Carlton, Jumeirah on Wednesday.
The session will discuss the partnership between the UAE and the IPL at length with Sundar Raman, Chief Executive Officer of Indian Premier League, Peter Griffiths, Director of Operations, IMG (UK), David East, CEO, Emirates Cricket Board and Maqbul Dudhia, General Manager, Sports Business of Dubai Sports City as speakers.
Gulf News Chief Cricket Writer K.R. Nayar will be the moderator for the session which will commence at 11am on Wednesday. The panel will speak on the impact behind the arrival of IPL in the UAE. Key figure from across the UAE and the IPL will reveal how the event came to UAE, the challenges that had to be overcome and a look at the positive impact the event had on both the world-leading sporting event and its new hosts.
The third edition of the two-day summit and brings together influential industry leaders, rights holders and the heads of sporting bodies from around the world together with past, current and future hosts cities with the heads of leading sports bodies and event right holders speaking on various topics through a series of panel debates, case studies, round tables and workshops.
India will be a key focus at the event this year with the midday session on Day One putting a spotlight on the changing sport landscape in the country and asking the question “Is there more to sport in India than Cricket?” The panel will include Kushal Das, Secretary General, AIFF — India Super League; Chandradev Bhagat, CEO, Greymatter Entertainment and JB Bernstein, co-creator of Million Dollar Arm.
Harold Mayne-Nicholls, the former head of the FIFA Technical Committee who is currently considering a run for FIFA President will be speaking as part of the session named “How To Win The Bid: Agenda 2020 and rewriting the rules of the game”.
Sessions across the two-day summit will give everyone an opportunity to learn and share ideas about being a host city.
Host Cities is presented by Emirates Airline, Falcon and Associates, Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing and SMG.
David East, who will speak in the IPL session, remarked: “UAE is a very important place for cricket and with three world class venues we could certainly host a Twenty20 World Cup.”
