Technology, innovation, knowledge sharing. How about one more reason to get stuck into Expo 2020 Dubai when it opens on Friday October 1?
Sports fans will have plenty to cheer during the six-month run of Expo 2020 Dubai after Dubai Sports Council confirmed that a raft of sporting activities and events will kick off on the sidelines of the world’s greatest show.
The Dubai International Sports Conference, Dubai Globe Soccer Awards and the MBR Creative Sports Awards will all be held at Expo 2020 Dubai in the coming months.
The Conference in particular is a major fixture, and since its launch in 2006, has welcomed more than 400 international and national speakers and moderators, including some of the biggest names in football like Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, Argentine virtuoso Lionel Messi, French legend Zinedine Zidane, and the late Argentine legend Diego Maradona.
Absolutely taken by The Queen’s Gambit? The FIDE World Chess Championships are being held between Wednesday November 24 and Thursday December 16, with reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen battle challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi in a captiviating battle of wits.
The Hamdan Bin Rashid Masters International Chess Championship will be held concurrently, on the same dates as the World Championship and at the same venue.
Love putting your best foot forward? The Expo 2020 Run will take place on Friday November 19, giving participants a one-off chance to conquer a course that snakes through the Expo 2020 Dubai districts and striking country pavilions.
‘Run the World’ community running events will take place every Saturday morning around Expo’s Ghaf Avenue, with free entry for all Expo 2020 Dubai ticket holders.
Expo will also take centre stage on February 25, 2022, when top international cycling teams and riders of the UCI WorldTour head to Expo 2020 for the Dubai stage of the tour.
You might also like: You can get your Expo 2020 Dubai tickets at ZOOM convenience stores
And on top of all those official competitions, visitors can expect to take part in their favourite sport at Expo 2020 Dubai’s dedicated Sports, Fitness and Wellbeing Hub, which includes a multi-purpose court for basketball, volleyball, tennis and netball, two cricket nets, an indoor gym and fitness hall, a five-aside football pitch, a Global Fitness Stage for yoga, Zumba and CRANK classes, along with sports workshops, and events for people of determination.
Many countries taking part in Expo 2020 Dubai have also organised a number of sports-related events at the Sports, Fitness and Wellbeing Hub, many featuring some big names in sport.
Australia, a proud sporting nation, has scheduled more than 500 events at the Hub, while their trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand will have events stretching across five weeks, including Les Mills Live fitness sessions.
Croatia, meanwhile, will be bringing two of their top football stars, Real Madrid’s Luka Modrić and Davor Šuker, President of the Croatian Football Federation, to town. Croatian NBA stars Dario Šarić and Bojan Bogdanović will also be meeting and greeting fans.
The Italy Pavilion team will organise fitness classes and workshops, while the Hungary Pavilion will host a tournament featuring teqball – a new ball-based sport – and present its programme for the development of school sports.
The Football Legends Championship, courtesy of the Nigeria Pavilion, will allow fans the opportunity to meet players like Jay-Jay Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu and Mikel John Obi, as well as two-time unified world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua of the UK.
The Senegal Pavilion will host events to promote the Dakar 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games – the first International Olympic Committee event to be held in Africa and the first in a Muslim-majority country.
If you love sports, there’s more than one reason to skip down to Expo 2020 Dubai when it opens on Friday October 1.
Dhs95 (one day), Dhs195 (30 days), Dhs495 (6 months). From Oct 1. expo2020dubai.com.
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