Dubai: One of the top officials associated with sports development programmes at the grassroots level has backed full returns for Dubai from them.

Fronted by the dictum ‘Positioning Dubai Globally’, Falcon and Associates has launched several tinitiatives to support and enhance the long-term positioning of Dubai internationally.

Among these are two sports initiatives – partnership with the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and sponsorship of the Chinese table tennis squad – both aimed at meeting Dubai’s goal of making a global impression.

The aim of sponsoring the China table tennis squad was to further connect the two, while also supporting the growth of the sport through ‘Ping Pong Dubai’, a community initiative which aims to develop table tennis at grassroots.

Facilitated by Falcon and Associates, Dubai’s four-year partnership with BWF will see the emirate host the BWF World Superseries Finals and sponsor the BWF World Superseries Rankings under its ‘Destination Dubai’ theme till 2017.

Through the World Superseries - that is televised in more than 160 countries reaching in excess of 300 million households worldwide - Dubai has launched its grassroots programme for schools and clubs called ‘Shuttle Time’, in an attempt to drive community engagement and the development of badminton.

Giselle Pettyfer, Vice Chairman, Falcon and Associates, reiterated her belief that community sports chosen by Dubai will have sufficient returns for society in the long run.

“We have worked closely with the Dubai Sports Council looking at sports that have both an elite component and a grassroots component. And importantly, with Falcon’s involvement, having a significant audience viewership in Asian markets in the East.

“China is very important as a market to tell the Dubai story and our job is about promoting Dubai in international markets and having the opportunity that exists in Dubai, be they sporting opportunities, educational opportunities, lifestyle opportunities, business opportunities, having those better understood. Our job is to do all this at the macro level and then the development and government agencies come in at micro level. So we are involved in badminton, table tennis and squash because these will help achieve those aspects. It’s using sports for promotional tool and for communications too,” Pettyfer told Gulf News on the sidelines of Wednesday’s Sports Innovation Lab.

“One shouldn’t generalise and put them all into one bucket necessarily as they all play a specific role for specific needs and so it’s difficult to generalise.

“Dubai has been my home since 2009. It’s a fantastic city with a lot of potential to do a lot of things,” she added.