Mohammad Bin Sulayem, President of the ATCUAE and Vice-President of the FIA, and Prof Muthanna G Abdul Razzaq, President and CEO of the AUE, after signing the scholarship agreement.
Dubai The Automobile & Touring Club of the UAE (ATCUAE) and the American University in the Emirates (AUE) have inked a broad partnership agreement that will help graduate professionals to the world of motor sports.
Arguably one of the UAE’s most ambitious and progressive agreements, it is a landmark that will set the benchmark for similar partnerships on sustainable development in the field of sports education.
The ATCUAE have a large population of competitors and volunteers and the new agreement will help develop their skills through further academic training.
“I believe that there is a big necessity for sports management in the UAE,” said Mohammad Bin Sulayem.
President of the ATCUAE and Vice-President of the FIA, the governing body for world motor sport.
“It’s a dream come true to sign this partnership with the AUE, and we extend our most sincere thanls.
“We saw that there was an obvious lack of a curiculum in sports management, something that has been sadly missing. A degree, or diploma will go a long way to helping competitors, volunteers and officials to extend their activity after sport and also promote shared values.
“This is the chance for youngsters to go forward and to take over the sports management and to not limiting it themselves to one sport,” added the 14-time Middle East rally champion driver.
“We have more than 760 volunteers working with the Club and we did a study to assess their impact on the economy and discovered that we are saving Dhs 6.5 million to the government each year.
“This has encouraged us to create new opportunities for them and we will be more than happy to support the AUE through this initiative.
Prof. Muthanna G. Abdul Razzaq. President and CEO of the AUE, who believes that nothing is impossible, welcomed the ATCUAE as a partner in the field of sports management.
“We will be offering a 40 percent scholarship discount to a selected group of volunteers from the ATCUAE,” he said. “Our scholarship will not only benefit the students but also the AUE and ATCUAE simultaneously.
We have agreed to collaborate on research projects and help students build their capacity in the field of motor sports management.
“The ATCUAE in turn has offered to help up by giving practical experience to our students,” he added.
“We want to graduate leaders, not managers, and encourage our students to think outside the box.”
Bin Sulayem, encourage more colleges in the UAE to conduct similar accords to enhance and educate motor sport enthusiasts through a professional program in order to help them avoide making the mistakes that he did as a result of not having a proper and comprehensive knowledge of sports management.