Corporate Games, the world leaders in staging corporate-based sports festivals, have announced plans to hold the first official event in Abu Dhabi this November.

The Abu Dhabi Corporate Games 2012 will be launched under the patronage of Sheikh Nahayan bin Mubarak Al Nahayan, UAE Minister for Higher Education, said Mohammed Ibrahim Al Mahmoud, general secretary of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council.

The captain of the UAE international football team and of Al Jazira FC, Subait Khater, was announced as the official sports patron for The Games.

Offering a choice of 16 popular sports for teams mainly made up from employees of businesses and companies in the UAE, and their family members, the event will be staged over a four-day ‘weekend’ period from November 21 to 24.

Participants can enter any of the 16 sporting events as either as a team or as an individual. In addition, there are no restrictions applied on age, gender, disability, or overall skill level, so the event is truly open to all types of competitor.

Organisers highlighted that the oldest competitor ever to compete at a Corporate Games’ event was 89.

“It is a great pleasure to hold the first corporate-based, multi-sport event in the UAE capital under my patronage,” said Sheikh Nahayan, the official Games Patron for the event.

“Having a long-term interest in a variety of sports, I am pleased to lend my support and urge companies across the UAE to get involved. Abu Dhabi Corporate Games represents exactly the type of initiative that the Abu Dhabi Government is committed to encouraging and supporting.”

Al Mahmood said: “The Abu Dhabi Corporate Games 2012 is an excellent example of how sport can reach out to the everyday man and woman in society and encourage us all to be better people, healthier people."

“Abu Dhabi Sports Council is proud to be a supporter of the Abu Dhabi Corporate Games 2012 and hope many companies across the UAE take the opportunity to make this inaugural event a huge success.”

Elaborating on why the philosophy and format of the Corporate Games has enjoyed such global appeal, Fanny Marcout, CEO of Abu Dhabi Corporate Games 2012 added: “The clue is very much in the title; it is not just a fun, festival of sport – there are real business benefits for participating companies too.”

“The Abu Dhabi Corporate Games 2012 is certainly a creative way for Abu Dhabi and UAE businesses to boost employee confidence, loyalty and team spirit, and it has also proven to be a success in cities across the world for being an innovative driver for developing new business – business leads that may not have been arrived at through other ‘normal’ business channels, perhaps.”

The Abu Dhabi Corporate Games 2012 will also mark the official beginning and end of the event with an Olympic-style opening and closing ceremony, including the pageantry of a “Grand Parade of Athletes”.

There will also be a “Games Village” where participants and spectators can go to soak up the atmosphere and festivities surrounding the event and over the weekend – including the “Great Games Party”.

The Abu Dhabi Corporate Games 2012 will run at venues across Abu Dhabi including: Zayed Sports City (main venue), Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, and Al Forsan International Sports Resort, Abu Dhabi. – TradeArabia News Service