Dubai Sports City joins Desert Classic sponsors

Along with residential and commercial properties, the 50 million square feet mixed-use metropolis will host a Manchester United Soccer School, a David Lloyd Tennis Academy, a Butch Harmon School of Golf, the first-ever dedicated International Cricket Council (ICC) global cricket academy, and a unique luxury golf residential community - Victory Heights - boasting an Ernie Els signature golf course.

With Els on the hunt for a third Desert Classic title at the Emirates Golf Club from March 3-6, there is perfect synergy between Dubai Sports City and a tournament the South African has won on two separate occasions.

"The prestigious Dubai Desert Classic is one of the premier golfing tournaments of the PGA European Tour and this year we are delighted to have the opportunity to be one of the key sponsors," said Dubai Sports City Chief Executive Officer U Balasubramaniam,

"It is an excellent platform for us to unveil our 18-hole championship golf course, The Dunes, to be located within Victory Heights, a unique gated golf residential community within the heart of Dubai Sports City. The Dunes is being designed by Ernie Els, the headline player at this year's Classic, who himself recently acclaimed Dubai Sports City as one of the most exciting projects in the world today. We wish him and all the players every success in the tournament."

When completed, DSC will boast four magnificent stadia - a 10,000 seat multi-purpose indoor arena, a 25,000 capacity cricket stadium, a 25,000 capacity multi-purpose outdoor complex and a field hockey stadium, which will accommodate 10,000 spectators. Interconnecting these stadia will be a 1.5 million sq ft retail mall, including a dedicated sports shopping area, with parking and other spectator facilities.

The design principle behind the stadia is to be state-of-the-art whilst recognising the functionality of each stadium for individual sports. All playing surfaces and pitch or court dimensions will be pre-approved by the relevant sports international governing body in order to guarantee their suitability for international tournaments and events.

The first phase of the DSC project, which will include the stadia, the golf course, sports academies and other facilities, as well as the Victory Heights residential community, will be completed by October 2007.

The addition of Dubai Sports City to the Desert Classic family of sponsors has also been warmly welcomed by the tournament itself.

"Dubai's international development as a world-class leisure and golfing destination is symbolised by ambitious and visionary projects such as Dubai Sports City and Victory Heights," said Dubai Desert Classic Vice Chairman Mohamed Buamim.

"The Dubai golfing industry is obviously proud and delighted that Ernie Els has agreed to bring his course design skills and experience to the Dubai Sports City development."

Besides Dubai Aluminium (DUBAL) as the main sponsor of the Desert Classic, CNN International, Arabian Ranches by Emaar, Nakheel, and Samsung as co-sponsors, other sponsors include: Emirates as official airline and Hole In One Sponsor; official caterer, hotel and challenge match sponsor Jebel Ali Golf Resort and Spa; Official Bank National Bank of Dubai; official courtesy car BMW; and event newspaper Gulf News.