3 new faces knock on the door of the “presidency” of team sports federations

Three well-known sports figures are knocking, for the first time, on the door of the presidency of team sports federations during the elections scheduled to be held next October. Al Nasr Club candidate Dharar Belhoul is running for the Basketball Federation elections for the seat of Chairman of the Board of Directors, and the same applies to Sharjah Club candidate Abdul Latif Al Fardan, while Khorfakkan Club nominated international Olympic referee Hamed Al Rusi to run for the Volleyball Federation elections for the seat of Chairman of the Board of Directors, facing the current president of the Federation, Abdullah Al Darmaki.

Calm prevails in the Handball Federation, in light of a single announcement submitted by Sharjah Club for its candidate, the current president of the Federation, Nabil Ashour, to run for a second electoral term.

Ambition for the “basket”

Last July, Al Nasr Club announced the candidacy of Dharar Belhoul for the presidency of the Basketball Federation, and a few days later, Sharjah Club announced the nomination of Abdul Latif Al Fardan for the same position currently held by Major General Ismail Al Qarqawi, who won the last elections in 2020 by acclamation in a sixth consecutive electoral cycle.

In his candidacy race, Dharar Belhoul relies on an ambitious program based on restoring the UAE basketball to its natural position in Asia. The program also includes nine axes, the most prominent of which is activating the school league as a mine of talent, in addition to university, academy and community leagues, to compensate for the lack of human resources witnessed by the game, in addition to sponsorship agreements and contracts that generate financial returns for the union, contributing to transforming strategic plans into a tangible reality.

In turn, the statement of Sharjah Club in introducing its candidate, Abdul Latif Al Fardan, referred to his career and administrative experience in basketball, as he held the position of Vice President of the Federation since 2012, in addition to being elected as a member of the Executive Office of the Asian Federation for two consecutive terms.

Developing the “plane”

The electoral program of the candidate for the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Volleyball Federation, Hamed Al-Rusi, which he called “Volleyball Development Strategy”, included many important axes in several areas, including allocating resources to achieve sporting goals and results, advancing Emirati volleyball, reaching the highest level of achievements in the Gulf and regionally, and competing for the first places, whether in the men’s category or the junior and youth categories, in addition to developing the scouting and selection system, and increasing the number of players registered in the Federation’s records.

In contrast, the current president of the Federation, Abdullah Al Darmaki, is relying on achieving 85% of the goals set in his strategic plans for the current term 2020-2024, as announced by the Volleyball Federation at the last General Assembly meeting last March, in addition to other achievements, most notably the development of internal regulations, local competitions, national teams, coaches, referees, and women’s volleyball activity, in addition to technical goals that include developing internal systems and structure, and concluding partnerships and agreements with national, continental and international federations, and contracts with sponsoring companies.

“Hand” filter

The only candidate running for the presidency of the Handball Federation is the candidate of Sharjah Club, Nabil Ashour, the current president of the Federation, after October 2020 witnessed the announcement of the victory of Nabil Ashour’s list by acclamation, as the list included Nabil Ashour as Chairman of the Board of Directors, and the members: Abdullah Al Kaabi, Daoud Maliha, Nasser Al Hammadi, Abdul Salam Rabie, Faisal Al Tawash, Adnan Faraj, Saud Saleh and Anisa Al Shaddadi.