UAE willing to bolster sports cooperation with Iran

The Vice-President of the UAE National Olympic Committee (UAE NOC) plans a visit to neighboring Iran to cement sporting ties with the country with long-term benefits in mind.\"For centuries now, our two countries have been together in various fields including sports. But now it is time to give this partnership a more formal stance,\" Yousuf Al Serkal, Vice-President, UAE NOC, told Mohammad Ali Abadi, the visiting President of the Iran National Olympic Committee (INOC). \"We have forged strong relationships in football with many professional footballers from Iran playing in our league for the past so many years. But now we feel we should allow this sort of partnership to affect and influence other sports as well,\" Al Serkal said. Al Serkal was keen to cash in on this resurgence of Iran in the sports field. \"We want to go to Iran as soon as possible so that we can learn from their experiences in the various sporting disciplines. We are keen to see their plan for the development of track and field, gymnastics and karate,\" Al Serkal said. Aliabadi had last week reiterated his government\'s belief in nurturing Iran into a sporting force over the next few years, with the country confident of shrugging its tab of being a sleeping giant. \"We are good enough to be at least third in Asia and that is the goal during the next five years - to be at least third in the medals table at the next Asian Games (in Incheon, South Korea),\" Aliabadi told Gulf News. The Iranian official welcomed the UAE move to work out a formal exchange program between various associations in the two countries, be it among coaches and trainers or the athletes themselves. \"We can to cooperate in the fields of track and field, football, futsal, taekwondo, karate, shooting, gymnastics and swimming. And such a cooperation will result in a win-win situation for all concerned be it our two countries, the athletes or sport itself,\" he said.