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Club Licensing Workshop

The Pro League Committee held a Club Licensing Workshop on Sunday 29 January 2012 at the Etisalat Academy, that was attended by the UAE Professional Clubs, First Division Clubs “A”, representatives of the Abu-Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah Sports Councils and Local Media alongside Abdulla Nasser Al Junaibi, the PLC Vice Chairman, Chairman of the Technical Committee, Mohammad Saeed Al Nuaimi, Ibrahim Al Nimr, members of the PLC Board of Directors and Dr. Khalid Mohammad Abdullah, PLC Acting Chief Executive Officer.

The workshop aimed to assist all UAE clubs to adapt a Club Licensing System in accordance to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) instructions, which require the necessity for licensing all professional clubs in order to participate in the professional project and the AFC Champions League in the upcoming seasons.

Abdulla Nasser Al Junaibi, PLC Vice Chairman, welcomed the participants and thanked Etisalat for hosting the Club Licensing Workshop at the headquarters of Etisalat Academy in Dubai.

Al Junaibi assured that the UAE Football has made great efforts to keep pace with the booming in the world of football and stressed the importance of maintaining what has been achieved so far and to always keep striving to get better.

“This is our fourth year in the Professional League, we have achieved some goals, but we still have a long way together with our professional and first division clubs to reach our destination.” said Al Junaibi.

Salem Saeed Al Sharhan Al Neaimi, Director-Marketing & Sales, Etisalat Academy, said: “It is a pleasure for Etisalat Academy to be associated with the Pro League Committee (PLC). It is great to be amongst the best clubs with a history of local and international achievement. Etisalat Academy thanks the Pro League for making a difference in the lives of sports enthusiasts across the UAE, no matter whether they play or spectate. We fully support Pro League’s continual work to make football stronger and increasingly successful in the UAE and across the region.”

Michelle Chai, PLC Technical & Competitions Director gave a presentation on how the Club Licensing System works, indicating that 7 dedicated people from different departments of each club need to work on the system and provide the AFC with the licenses in the upcoming period, otherwise the clubs will not be able to participate in tournaments organized by the AFC as well as World Championships.

David Brennan, General Manager of the Etisalat Academy stated: “Etisalat understands that football is an integral part of the UAE sporting culture. Etisalat has an uncompromising reputation for supporting football in the UAE, as shown from the local, national and international sponsorships of football teams. It was a very proud day for Etisalat Academy to host the Pro League Club Licensing Workshop and support their strategic work in continually elevating football to its rightful place at the top of the UAE sporting agenda.”

At the end of the workshop, Etisalat Academy organized a tour for the participants introducing the Etisalat Academy facilities and services including football training fields, sports halls, restaurants and residences which can be of great assistance to the UAE clubs in holding their training camps.

Etisalat Academy is the largest single-source provider of Training & Development Solutions in the Middle East, and is widely recognized not only for their state of the art training, but also for their facilities, labs, sport club and hostel that serves thousands customer each year.