UAE Rugby Federation Signs Three-Year Partership With Emirates Airlines

The UAE Rugby Federation have confirmed that the union has signed a multi-year partnership with Emirates Airline which will cover the national 15’s and 7’s teams, as well as Emirati development teams.

The partnership means Emirates will be the official airline for the UAE rugby federation (we think the first airline partnership for rugby in the Asian region?) and Emirates will be the title sponsor of the UAE national 15’s and 7’s teams (men’s and women’s) including the all-Emirati Shaheen and Al Maha development teams.

The press release from UAERF said that “Emirate’s globally-recognised slogan ‘Fly Better’ will be prominently positioned on the national teams’ playing and training kit through to, and including, 2026.”

Mohamed Alzaabi, General Secretary of UAE Rugby, added; “The board is extremely pleased to re-engage with Emirates Airline and we are delighted to welcome them back to the UAE Rugby fraternity as a highly valued partner across our National teams and Emirati development teams.”

Saud Al Nuaimi, Board Member and Chair of the Marketing and Investment Committee said; “Emirates are a world leader in sports sponsorship and their dedication to lifting the profile of the game, to providing opportunities to its players and embracing rugby’s fast-growing fan base is unparalleled and aligns perfectly with the goals and aspirations of the federation.We look forward to embracing and strengthening this relationship, and shared vision, over the coming years.”

The union has celebrated several recent successes:

• The women’s sevens team won the 2023 Asia Rugby Sevens Trophy Tournament (Promoted to Asia Rugby Sevens Series 2024)
• Asia Rugby U18 Boys Asia Championship Champions 2023
• Asia Rugby U18 Girls Asia Championship Champions 2023
• Asia Rugby Men’s XV Division 1 Champions 2023 (Promoted to Asia Rugby Championship 2024)
• Men’s Arab 7s Champions
• Men’s 7s finished third in the 2023 Asia Rugby Sevens Series

Boutros Boutros, Divisional Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Marketing & Brand for Emirates said: “As title sponsor of the men and women’s UAE national teams, Emirates reinforces its commitment not just to rugby in the UAE, but to future generations of talented athletes, creating more opportunities for young players to embrace the game.

We will continue to support local and global athletes and connect with our fans all over the world through our shared passion for sports.”

All-Emirati UAERF women’s development team – Al Maha

From a development side, the all-Emirati development teams (men’s Shaheen and women’s Al Maha) have also been seeing progress, said the UAERF. Al Maha was invited to participate in a high-level invitational development experience which was part of World Rugby’s new global women’s international 15’s competition – WXV.

Other union sponsors include Dubai Duty-Free, HSBC, ReedSmith, Gymnation, Adam Vital Hospital, and WINTEX.

UAE Rugby said it is “very excited with what 2024 holds, what our teams can and will achieve, and to venture into the future with such a progressive, driven partner.”

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