2012 Dubai Rugby Sevens Will Take Place Without UAE Team
In a disappointing move for United Arab Emirates (UAE) Rugby fans the International Rugby Board has decided to not include the UAE team for the 2012 Dubai Rugby Sevens competition that is set to take place in the emirate in November.
The competition organised by the International Rugby Board (IRB) will now see 16 teams from around the world compete for the coveted trophy while the UAE will miss out because its ranking was not high enough to mandate a spot in the competition.
Mohammed Falaknaz, the chairman of the UAE Rugby Association said that the association is disappointed but can understand the position of the IRB. He also claimed that the decision will not impact the development of the sport in the emirate.
According to The National he said:
“We fully respect and understand the IRB decision as elite performance unions enter a four-year cycle of preparation for the 2016 Olympic Games.”
Adding further he said:
“UAE Rugby still has plans to participate annually in the Dubai Sevens and the Asian Sevens Series as part of our ongoing performance development plans. We are still committed in the pursuit of our vision to be prominent and successful in Asian rugby and as part of our strategic development.”
The UAE as part of the Arabian Gulf Union was at first guaranteed a spot in its home tournament unfortunately though the union disbanded and the UAE now competes as a single nation team.
With this development the IRB warned that the UAE would not be guaranteed a spot in the 2012 Dubai Rugby Sevens and were asked to prove their mettle through competitions to show that they deserved a spot in the competition.
However, the UAE team did not deliver the results necessary.
Ending up in ninth spot at the Asian Sevens Series in addition to further losses at The Sevens led the IRB to remove the UAE from participating in its home tournament.
IRB’s Mark Egan said about the country’s removal from the competition:
“While UAE will not be competing in the [Dubai Sevens], the future for rugby in the UAE is bright.”
The UAE team though still has many other competitions to look forward too.
They will participate in the upcoming Asian Seven Series in Borneo with the team’s coaches expecting a much improved performance this year round.
Good performances in the competition will allow the team to qualify for the Hong Kong Sevens and can even go all the way to the World Cup Sevens in Moscow.
The UAE team should not let the disappointment of not being selected for the tournament get them down and should concentrate on improving their performance so that they could compete in future tournaments that take place in the emirate.
