The United Arab Emirates, represented by the UAE Winter Sports Federation, has officially joined World Curling as a Conditional Member Association, becoming the organization's 78th member following approval from the World Curling Board.
The move builds on the UAE's longer-standing involvement in winter sports © Mena Today
The United Arab Emirates, represented by the UAE Winter Sports Federation, has officially joined World Curling as a Conditional Member Association, becoming the organization's 78th member following approval from the World Curling Board.
In a statement, World Curling described the sport as an Olympic and Paralympic team discipline played on ice, with competitions in men's, women's and mixed doubles categories, alongside wheelchair events.
Hamel Ahmed Al Qubaisi, Vice President of the UAE Winter Sports Federation, said the membership reflects the Federation's efforts to expand its international partnerships, strengthen cooperation, and exchange expertise with countries around the world in support of winter sports development.
He called it an important addition to the Federation's broader development strategy, one that will support plans to expand curling's reach and strengthen national teams ahead of participation in regional and international championships.
Al Qubaisi added that the Federation continues to pursue a strategy focused on identifying and developing talent, improving national teams' readiness for international competition, and seeking to host more continental and international events.
He said World Curling membership will now allow UAE national teams to access international development programmes and expand their participation in world championships.
The move builds on the UAE's longer-standing involvement in winter sports, including ice hockey, where the country has been affiliated with the International Federation since 2001, and its recent partnership between Ski Dubai and the Winter Sports Federation ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics.
By Sultan Al-Hammadi
The Israeli government believes an incident on a flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel, which diverted to Saudi Arabia after transmitting emergency signals on Wednesday, may have been an attempted "terror attack" by one of the pilots, according to two Israeli officials.
UAE Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and met with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the kingdom's defence minister, the first visit by a senior UAE official to the kingdom since a deep rift emerged between the two Gulf powers last year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent six hours on the ground in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, in a visit dominated by talks on Iran with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (MBZ), sources told The Jerusalem Post.
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