A "major" national sports initiative was unveiled on Sunday by the Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development in an effort to give Emirati athletes a boost over the coming years, the state news agency, Wam, reported.
The initiative will include selecting "a range of Olympic games" and preparing teams of Emirati athletes to compete and win in those games based on the most advanced training plans and "world-level practices" in the field, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak said during his first long address to the ministry's staff and to the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare.
Sheikh Nahyan moved earlier this year from the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research to lead the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development.
The national sports initiative aims to have Emirati athletes participate and win in the next Asian Games, which will be held in 2014, and in the Brazil Olympics two years later.
Sheikh Nahyan said the initiative was "extremely important" and all the support and resources needed for it to come to fruition will be made available.
The sports initiative is part of everyone's role in boosting national identity and consolidating the UAE's rightful position among world nations, he said.
