The Dubai Sports Council (DSC) announced that many of the world’s leading sports stars will be joining Expo 2020 Dubai to promote their countries on the global stage and participate in numerous sporting events organised throughout the next six months.

Dubai Sports Council, along with its partners, has collaborated with Expo 2020 Dubai to organise several sporting activities and events on the sidelines of the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region, which kicks off on 1 October, 2021

The Council said that the 16th Dubai International Sports Conference (DISC) – a Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiative – and Dubai Globe Soccer Awards will take place during Expo 2020 Dubai. One of football’s main brainstorming platforms, DISC will bring the sport’s top stakeholders together to discuss challenges facing the ever-evolving world of football and deliberate ways to develop and enrich the sport at the domestic, regional and international level.

Since its launch in 2006, the Conference 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 – and Expo 2020 Dubai ambassador – Lionel Messi; French legend Zinedine Zidane; and the late Argentine legend Diego Maradona.

The Dubai Sports Council has also confirmed that the prestigious Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award ceremony will also take place at Expo 2020 on 9January, 2022.

A Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiative, the MBR Creative Sports Award is one of the leading initiatives of its kind in the world in terms of categories and prize money. The 11th edition of the Award will see Emirati and Arab heroes from the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games being honoured at a glittering Awards ceremony.

A number of other events will take place at Expo 2020, including the FIDE World Chess Championship 2021, which will see reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen battle challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi, between 24November  and16December, to keep his crown. 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.

The Expo 2020 Run takes place on 19 November, giving participants the unique opportunity to run on a course that snakes its way through the Expo 2020 districts and around different Country Pavilions. ‘Run the World’ community running events will take place every Saturday morning around Expo’s Ghaf Avenue, with complimentary participation open to all Expo 2020 visitors. Expo 2020 will also take centre stage on 25February, 2022, when top international cycling teams and riders of the UCI WorldTour head to Expo 2020 for the Dubai stage of the tour.

Aside from the official competitions, visitors to Expo 2020 can take part in their favourite sport at facilities across the Expo site and at Expo’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.

Special events

The countries participating in Expo 2020 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 sports 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. 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 United Kingdom.

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.

More than 30 international events

Dubai will also host more than 30 international sports events during Expo 2020 across the emirate, including the men’s and women’s Rugby World Cup qualifiers in October and November, cricket’s Twenty20 World Cup, and the European Tour’s ‘Race to Dubai’ finale, the DP World Tour Championship.

Under the theme “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” and featuring 191 Country Pavilions, Expo 2020 is expected to attract 25 million visits, welcoming some of the greatest minds and personalities from the worlds of science and technology, economy, literature and show business.