Dubai // Sports professionals have welcomed the announcement of a research and study centre to help take the UAE's nascent motorsport industry up a gear.
It follows a partnership between the Automobile and Touring Club UAE (ATC) and the University of Ulster in Ireland, spearheaded by the Emirati racing champion, Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
Jill Lederer, the senior events executive at the sports management company IMG, which organises events such as the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and the Capitala tennis tournament, called the centre a "brilliant idea".
"We have to import a lot of our expertise for the events out here from our team in London," she said. "Everything down to the signage is like an education process for us."
She said any kind of research into sport would be a positive and would help encourage people to join the growing industry.
With a calendar that now includes major international events such as the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the Dubai World Cup, there has been a growing push to develop local talent with the skills to run them.
Mr Ben Sulayem, a vice president of the FIA, motorsport's governing body, and 14-time Middle East rally champion, called the country's lack of sports education a "handicap" for the country.
None of the universities offer any sports-related qualifications.
"Sport is business, entertainment and knowledge," he said. "It's a US$130 billion industry each year. Look how much investment the UAE is making into sport.
"We want to make a new generation of people with expertise in sport, not just motorsport but in sport management, marketing, training."
Chris Rosimus, an Abu Dhabi-based sports nutritionist, said he had tried and failed to find a masters' programme in the UAE centred around sports nutrition or sports science. Instead, he is studying online with the International Olympic Committee.
"For sports professionals like me, you need a masters," he said, "even with experience in the field."
Under the agreement, academics from the Irish university's Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Institute will mentor students in the UAE studying research degrees at master's and PhD level, as well as carrying out research work on UAE related areas. Students can also travel to Ireland.
The project is aimed at professionals in all fields - from administrators to medics - who already have an undergraduate degree and very strong experience in sport.
The research degrees take at least two years and will cost Dh60,000 a year for non-EU citizens.
Interested applicants should email: Sean@atcuae.ae
