The identity of national institutions carries deep dimensions that go beyond slogans and words in its concept and message

His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the National Olympic Committee, chaired the regular meeting of the General Assembly of the Committee, today (Monday), during which the General Assembly approved the new name of the Olympic Committee to become “UAE Olympic Committee.”

During the meeting, His Highness stressed that the identity of national institutions carries profound dimensions, and its concept and mission go beyond slogans and words, to establish new meanings and noble values ​​derived from the heritage of the UAE and the authenticity of its people, to be in harmony with the foundations and concepts of the Olympic movement based on excellence, respect and friendship.

His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum pointed out that the path of the UAE Olympic Committee includes scenes that call for pride and pride, starting with its founding on December 19, 1979, and joining the following year as a member of the International Olympic Committee and the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees, through recording the country’s first presence in Olympic forums in 1984 at the Los Angeles Olympics, all the way to climbing on the podiums and raising the national flag in foreign forums for the first time in 1992 at the Arab Games in Syria, then achieving the first continental medal in the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima. The historic moment came with the recording of the first Olympic medal for the UAE in 2004 by Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Hasher Al Maktoum, after which achievements continued at all levels.

The meeting was attended by Dr. Ahmed Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of Sports, Vice President of the UAE Olympic Committee; His Excellency Fares Mohammed Al-Mutawa, Secretary-General of the Committee; In addition to members of the Board of Directors, the General Assembly, and a number of media outlets.

Strategic document

During the meeting, the General Assembly of the Emirates Olympic Committee approved the new name of the committee, and the strategic document of the committee was announced, which includes a set of goals, including developing sports governance and management, promoting sports leadership, empowering athletes, and empowering society and Olympic culture through a vision that says, “Achieving Olympic leadership and empowering athletes, enhancing competitive strength, inspiring society and raising its level of well-being.”

Also, it was approved to allocate (3) seats for women on the Board of Directors of the UAE Olympic Committee, and to amend the text of Article (5) and Article (40), paragraph (b) and paragraph (c) of the statute of the UAE Olympic Committee.

The General Assembly of the UAE Olympic Committee also approved the unified electoral system and the unified electoral appeals system for sports federations, by approving the formation of both the Central Elections Committee and the Electoral Appeals Committee, which are competent to supervise the electoral process for sports federations in accordance with the provisions of the two aforementioned systems.

The UAE Olympic Committee is committed, within a period not exceeding ninety (90) days from the date of this approval, to address the sports federations to oblige them to convene their general assemblies, for the purpose of including and adopting the provisions of the unified electoral system and the unified electoral appeals system within their basic systems. All sports federations are also committed to calling their general assemblies during the same period referred to, to complete the legal approval and harmonization procedures, and to include the two systems within their basic systems, in a way that ensures the unification of electoral procedures and the achievement of the principles of transparency and good governance.

In addition, the meeting witnessed the approval of the accession of the UAE Boxing Federation to membership in the General Assembly of the UAE Olympic Committee after fulfilling the conditions, and also the approval of the accession of the Sharjah Women’s Sports Foundation, the Federation of Higher Education Institutions, and the Emirates Sports for All Federation to the General Assembly of the National Olympic Committee.

During the meeting, the technical and administrative report of the National Olympic Committee for the year 2025 was approved, and the country’s participation in sports tournaments was reviewed, namely the Third Asian Youth Games – Bahrain 2025, and the Sixth Islamic Solidarity Games – Riyadh 2025, in addition to adopting the National Olympic Committee’s Olympic activity plan for the year 2026.

The General Assembly of the UAE Olympic Committee approved changing the name of the “Emirates Swimming Federation” to the “Emirates Water Sports Federation,” and changing the name of the “Emirates Billiards and Snooker Federation” to the “Emirates Billiards Federation.”

The meeting stressed the need for the commitment of all sports federations and members of the General Assembly of the UAE Olympic Committee to circulate the list of values ​​and ethics and the code of conduct to all their member clubs and the like. It was also stressed the need for sports federations to commit to signing an acknowledgment of knowledge of the provisions of the code of conduct as a basic condition for participation in any of the tournaments that fall under the umbrella of the committee, in addition to the need for sports federations that fall under the umbrella of the committee to also adhere to the medical code issued by the Sports Medicine Committee of the UAE Olympic Committee before participating in these tournaments.

Best Union Award

As part of the General Assembly meeting of the UAE Olympic Committee, the award for the best sports federation member of the UAE Olympic Committee for the 2024-2028 Olympic cycle was launched. The unified system for establishing Gulf sports federations, received from the General Secretariat of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, the developments of the Conference on Sports Law and Administration, and the requirements of the International Olympic Committee regarding adding some organizational aspects related to the UAE Olympic Committee in accordance with the provisions of the Olympic Charter, was also reviewed. Also, the administrative and financial report of the Emirates Sports Arbitration Center for the year 2025 was approved, and the final account and auditor’s report for the same financial year were approved.

Honor

On the sidelines of the General Assembly meeting of the UAE Olympic Committee, His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum honored the UAE sports delegation that succeeded in winning 31 medals in the third Asian Youth Games in Bahrain, achieving a set of advanced records and distinguished times, in addition to honoring the delegation participating in the sixth edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where the UAE delegation won 27 medals, recording the best result compared to the past five editions of the event.

On the sidelines of the meeting, His Highness also met with the Board of Directors of the Emirates Sports Arbitration Center, headed by His Excellency Jamal Hamid Al Marri, where His Highness was briefed on the most prominent programs and services provided by the Center in order to establish the rules of integrity and transparency in disputes that may arise between parties to the sports work system, and which the Center has the sole jurisdiction to consider, adjudicate and settle, in a way that achieves the principle of equality among all and contributes to providing a distinguished competitive sports environment.