Dubai
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has set up a regional office within the Dubai Sports Council (DSC) headquarters at the Dubai Design District (d3).
Titled ‘The BWF and Badminton Asia Regional Office’, the announcement follows the official admission of the UAE Table Tennis and Badminton Association (UAE TTBA) as the 187th member of the BWF.
“The BWF’s decision to officially recognise the UAE Table Tennis and Badminton Association as a member of the Federation is hugely significant. This move indicates the growing profile of the Dubai World Superseries Finals and the emirate’s badminton offering. BWF establishing a regional office in Dubai will certainly aid in the development of badminton in the UAE,” Dawood Al Hajri, President, UAE TTBA, noted.
“Dubai’s geographical location, global connectivity, state-of-the-art infrastructure and tradition of hospitality make it the ideal setting to convene the world of sport. As such, we are delighted to see BWF and Badminton Asia use the emirate as a gateway to Asia and look forward to working alongside them both to extend the benefits of badminton to the continent and right across the world,” Saeed Hareb, Secretary General, Dubai Sports Council (DSC) said.
Poul-Erik Høyer, President, BWF, said: “More than two billion people across the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia region live in the four-hour time zone either side of Dubai, placing the emirate right in the epicentre of badminton’s key markets. The launch of this satellite office will not only drive greater levels of engagement between Badminton Asia and its stakeholders on the continent but it will also bolster BWF’s wider development objectives for badminton in the region.”
Facilitated by Falcon and Associates, Dubai will complete its four-year partnership with BWF to host the Dubai World Superseries Finals and sponsor the BWF World Superseries Rankings in 2017. Part of the deal was the launch of the BWF’s grassroots initiative “Shuttle Time Dubai” which is run by a Dubai-based BWF Badminton Development Manager and has been growing since 2014.
