Khalifa Sulaiman joins ATCUAE Board of Directors 31.03.2013: Former Al Ahli Club chairman can play key role in helping to shape future of UAE motor sport , says Sulayem

Former Al Ahli Club chairman can play key role in helping to shape future of UAE motor sport , says Sulayem


photo caption:  Khalifa Sulaiman - joined the Board of Directors of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE.


H.E. Khalifa Saeed Sulaiman, Director General of Dubai's Protocol Department and a former chairman of Al Ahli Club, has joined the Board of Directors of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE.


Announcing the appointment today, Dr. Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President of the ATCUAE, said Sulaiman would play an important role in helping the national motor sport authority shape the future of motor sport in the Emirates.


“He has a wealth of experience in the sporting arena and will reinforce our efforts to maintain the highest standards in the staging of motor sport events in the country,” said Sulayem.


Sulaiman joins Sulayem, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Mohammed Atik Al Qamzi and Saeed Al Tayer on the ATCUAE’s board of directors. His appointment comes at a time when the ATCUAE is considered one of the world’s leading national motor sport and motoring authorities, with acknowledged expertise in associated training, research and education.


The Club is the official representative in the Emirates of the FIA, motor sport’s world governing body, and of its motor cycling, karting and classic car counterparts, the FIM, CIK and FIVA. It oversees more than 140 events annually, from Formula One to local moto cross.


The ATCUAE has a huge range of responsibilities as sporting organisers of the F1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix under an agreement with Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management. It also organises the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and the Dubai International Rally.


The Club is now one of only four national authorities worldwide which delivers training on behalf of the FIA, with an emphasis on safety for officials, competitors and spectators.


Originally formed in 1965, the ATCUAE has made major progress since Sulayem took over as its President in 2006, supported by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.


In November 2007, the Club moved to its present Dubai headquarters in Al Mamzar on a plot of land allocated by Sheikh Mohammed. A year later Sulayem became the first Arab to earn a place on the World Motor Sport Council and was named Vice President of the FIA for Sport.


One of the ATCUAE’s key aims is to encourage greater participation in all areas of motor sport by Emiratis. In 2009 it launched an intensive marshals recruitment and training programme and set up the UAE Motorsport Marshals Club to manage and promote the growth of a national framework of motorsport officials.


The UAEMMC now has more than 1,000 members of 64 different nationalities. A growing number of its trained officials are Emiratis who play an increasingly active role in ensuring the safe and efficient running of the F1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.  In 2011 and 2012, UAE marshals have been named as the Volunteer of the Year by the FIA.



- Tony Lewis, Total Communications Dubai - also photo