Major indoor sports event to take place in Dubai

A major event aimed at encouraging people in the UAE to take part in sporting activity during the summer months will go ahead next month.The third Dubai Sports World programme will commence at the huge Dubai World Trade Centre on June 21st and will last for two months.It will feature summer camps for children, giving them an opportunity to play games like football, basketball, rugby, tennis and Australian rules football. They can also partake in energetic pastimes like skateboarding, running and fitness training.Dubai's sporting facilities are among the best in the world and a host of professional football and cricket teams have made use of the various sports centres across the city in recent months. It is hoped that Dubai Sports World will open up these complexes to more local youngsters.Senior vice president of venues at the Dubai World Trade Centre Ahmed Alkhaja said: "We are pleased to offer new and exciting sports and entertainment for a third consecutive year."Year on year, we continue to invest in state-of-the-art sports facilities and partnerships to offer a world-class sports arena for people of all ages."The UAE is certainly building itself a strong reputation for staging major sporting events.It attracts the world's finest tennis players and golfers each year and is also home to the fabulous Meydan Racecourse, which holds the Dubai World Cup - the richest horse race on the planet.Fifa named the UAE as the host country for the 2013 Under-17s World Cup and this is scheduled to start in October.Football's governing body recently sent a team of delegates to the Middle East to check the progress of the stadia and training facilities that will be used throughout the tournament and they were happy with what they saw.The official mascot for the event - a falcon-type creature named Shaqran - was unveiled in the country earlier this week (May 13th) by Fifa and the local organising committee.