The Dubai Sports Council, in cooperation with Dubai Police’s General Department of Punitive and Correctional Institutions, organised a sports nutrition certification course for inmates under the title “Nutrition for Athletes”.

The certification course was organised as part of Dubai Sports Council’s sports program for correctional centres in Dubai, which seeks to provide a healthy sports environment for inmates and prepare them for the next phase of their life, outside the correctional centres.

The course was conducted by professional nutritionists and fitness trainers, certified by International Confederation of Registers for Exercise Professionals (ICREPs) and the Register of Exercise Professionals UAE (REPs UAE).

The trainers introduced the inmates to the science of sports nutrition and explained the importance of nutrition in sports. They also educated the inmates about how to prepare a professional and personalised nutrition program for different athletes and for different stages of their preparation, as well as specialised nutrition programs for competition.

More than 20 inmates attended the workshop, which was organised virtually, alongside a number of General Department of Punitive and Correctional Institutions employees. Ahmad Ibrahim Busherin, Head of Dubai Sports Council’s Community Events Section, also attended the workshop along with First Lieutenant Nasser Al Ketbi from General Department of Punitive and Correctional Institutions.

The Dubai Sports Council has been organising rehabilitation program for inmates of penal and correctional institutes in Dubai for four years now, and during this time it has organised many training courses and workshops for inmates, including training courses to become fitness trainers, yoga instructors and basketball referees. A large number of inmates have participated in these programs and benefitted from them.

Through the courses, participants receive internationally recognized certificates that will allow them to work both inside and outside the country.

The program for penal and correctional institutions, which is unique in the world, also aims to provide inmates with the opportunity to practice sports and to create a healthy sports environment inside the centres.

The Dubai Sports Council has also provided penal and correctional institutes with sports equipment, to allow inmates to exercise, and to encourage and support them in living a normal, healthy and happy lifestyle.