With traditional sports and outdoor activity coming to a standstill around the globe due to the COVID19 pandemic, Dubai Sports Council is encouraging sports event organisers in the Emirate to innovate and embrace the virtual and esports world.

To facilitate the organiser, Dubai Sports Council have added a special segment for registering Virtual Events on their events registration portal available on the www.dubaisc.ae website.

Like the ‘Marathon at Home’ last week, Dubai Sports Council is encouraging organisers to come up with innovative events that will keep the competitive juices of the country’s sports enthusiasts flowing. The organisers can choose any sport, be it running, cycling, chess, or esports, as long as the event is staged indoors, and does not flout the precautionary restrictions imposed by authorities.

As per the conditions set by DSC, the duration of the Virtual Events should not be more than five days, and no organizer can organize more than one event at the same time. If the same organiser is planning two or more Virtual Events, he will have to make sure there is a space of seven days between each of his events so as to give opportunities to other organisers as well.

To make the events affordable for all members of the community, Dubai Sports Council is encouraging event organisers to keep registration fees for participants to a minimum. The upper limit for registration fees has been set at AED 50 and no organizer can charge more than that.

Dubai Sports Council has also urged organisers to issue participation certificates to all participants.

Launching this Virtual Events registration system is the latest Dubai Sports Council initiative aimed at keeping the community physically active at home. Last week, the Council organised a hugely successful ‘Marathon at Home’ before announcing a Virtual Cycling Challenge as part of their ‘Be Fit, Be Safe’ campaign, which was launched to encourage and inspire members of the community to continue exercising at home.

Through the campaign, which is being run under the hashtag #DSCchallenge, the Council is urging members of the community to stay safe and continue exercising at home, and share their home workout videos online, tagging @DubaiSC.

The “Be Fit, Be Safe” initiative has received widespread support with top football stars like Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs, former Spain international Michel Salgado, rising Portuguese star Joao Felix backing the campaign alongside greats like Luis Figo of Portugal, Brazil’s Roberto Carlos and Frenchman Nicolas Anelka.

Italian Pierluigi Collina, one of the best known football referees, and former France football internationals Eric Abidal and Mikael Silvestre have also backed the campaign, which has also received widespread support from the community, with experts from the fitness industry and some of UAE’s top sports stars, taking part alongside many others, including mums and dads, and schoolkids, of different nationalities.

As part of the campaign, DSC has also linked up with some of the leading brands from UAE’s fitness industry to offer free daily virtual fitness classes, led by certified fitness trainers.