Gaelic Football will make its Emirates Dubai 7s debut this November, with registration opening for the new competition, alongside WODON3 fitness and Rebound padel.
Gaelic Football is a hugely popular sport in Ireland that derives elements from football and rugby.
Taking place from November 27 to 29 at The Sevens Stadium, the addition of Gaelic Football brings another international sporting community into the Emirates Dubai 7s Festival Sports programme, with two men’s and two women’s tournaments set to take place across the weekend.
Delivered in collaboration with the Middle East Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), the competition introduces one of Ireland’s best-known national sports to the festival for the first time, reflecting the well-established Gaelic Games community in the UAE and adding a new competitive format to the Emirates Dubai 7s sporting line-up.
In keeping with the 7s spirit, traditional 15-a-side Gaelic Football will take on a new format for the festival, with seven players per side and matches played across two seven-minute halves. Squads will consist of 10 players and two management representatives, with rolling replacements permitted throughout each match.
The inaugural competition will feature four tournaments: Gaelic Football Elite Men (GFEM), Gaelic Football Elite Women (GFEW), Gaelic Football Open Men (GFOM) and Gaelic Football Open Women (GFOW).
The competition is invitational, with all teams, players and management required to be affiliated with Middle East GAA.
Several tournament-specific rules will also bring a faster format to the competition, including a 30-second requirement for teams to move out of their own half and a halfway rule preventing the ball from travelling backwards once a team has crossed the halfway line.
Registration also opened for WODON3, the Emirates Dubai 7s fitness competition taking place on Pitch 3 in the heart of the festival.
Teams of four, made up of two male and two female athletes, can enter across Super Social, Open and Elite divisions, creating options for first-time fitness competitors through to experienced athletes.
Teams will take on a series of workouts testing strength, power, speed, endurance and teamwork, with every WODON3 team entry also providing access to all three days of the Emirates Dubai 7s.
For the first time in Emirates Dubai 7s’ history, the finale of the WODON3 Elite division will take place on Pitch 1 in between HSBC SVNS matches on November 28, meaning athletes will have the chance to compete in front of audiences of up to 20,000 people.
Rebound, the Emirates Dubai 7s padel tournament, also opened for registration, returning to five purpose-built courts at the centre of the festival site.
Delivered in partnership with Viya Padel, the tournament is open to players across a range of abilities, from those new to the sport through to experienced competitive players, with categories spanning Beginner Social, Open Social, Open Competitive and Corporate competition.
Rebound will run across all three days of the festival, with player entry including full weekend access to the Emirates Dubai 7s.
With Gaelic Football joining rugby, cricket, netball, fitness and padel at The Sevens Stadium this year, the latest addition continues to broaden the number of sporting communities taking part in the Emirates Dubai 7s weekend.
It also offers amateur athletes the unique opportunity to compete in their own sport as part of the wider Emirates Dubai 7s festival, alongside world-class rugby, live entertainment and thousands of fans at The Sevens Stadium.
The Emirates Dubai 7s is the Middle East’s largest sports and entertainment festival, attracting more than 80,000 attendees from over 128 countries. Founded in 1970, it is the longest-running international sporting event in the region and a celebration of world-class sport, live music and entertainment.
Source: Khaleej Times