Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, believes sport is thriving in Dubai.

With an ever-increasing number of amateur and professional events in the emirate, Sheikh Hamdan also launched the Dubai Fitness Challenge in 2017 in a bid to make Dubai the most active city in the world.

Ahead of the 2019 Dubai International Sports Conference, its 14th edition, he also lauded the impact such events have in promoting sport.

Sheikh Hamdan added that the dedicated sports conferences organised in the emirate, including, play a pivotal role in promoting growth and development of the local sports sector.

“Since the first meeting of Dubai Sports Council, we decided to launch an international sports conference that gathers the most successful federations, clubs, prominent sportsmen and coaches to share their professional experiences and success stories, and to present their ideas to promote sports in general and football in particular,” Sheikh Hamdan said.

“Such event was also aspired to offer our sports professionals the opportunity to learn about best international practices, and to start closer cooperation with their peers from across the globe.

“We are proud today to have an international platform to share successful experiences, programmes and initiatives with prominent football leaders, including FIFA, to develop the game globally.

“The conference is also a platform for renowned football stars, and the most successful coaches as well as decision makers, which further reflect the growing role of the conference that annually gathers prominent football personalities from around the world.”

This year’s Dubai International Sports Conference has the theme, ‘Future Football Accelerators’ and will be held on December 28 at Madinat Jumeirah Conference Centre.

Former England and Juventus coach Fabio Capello, Manchester United legend Edwin van der Sar and Ferran Soriano, chief executive of Manchester City Football Club and its parent company City Football Group, will be among the speakers at the event.

Simone Inzaghi, France’s World Cup-winning manager Didier Deschamps and Wales national team boss Ryan Giggs will also be there, while the first ever all-ladies session will be held with Lucy Bronze, UEFA Women’s Player of the Year for 2019, and France captain Amandine Henry, alongside history-making French football referee Stephanie Frappart and Italy captain Sara Gama.