DUBAI — With the Holy Month of Ramadan starting this weekend, Dubai Sports Council is making sure members of the community will get their regular fix of sports and physical activity at home by organizing a number of innovative events in cooperation with different sports event organizers. One of the events that should find plenty of takers is the Ramadan Mubarak Challenge, a virtual running event in which all the members of the house can participate. Participants can register in four different categories — 10km for male and female, 5km for male and female, 2.5km for kids aged 12-16, and a race for kids under 12. Anyone can take part in the race, and they can use their home fitness equipment like a treadmill or even run outdoors if it is permitted and safe. The Ramadan Mubarak Challenge will take place on two days — May 15 and May 22, with a 24-hour window — from 09:00 to 09:00 following day — for the participants to race. After the completion of both events, the results will be combined and the top three winners in each category will receive a medal and everyone who participated will be sent a digital certificate. Supporting the government’s initiative urging people to stay home, Gamers Hub Middle East is organizing one of the biggest Dota2 tournament in the MENA region, starting April 23 with the finale scheduled for May 9. The GHL MENA Championship will have 128 of the best teams from the region competing for the top three places, with the top finisher getting a prize of AED 5,500. Finishing in second place will make the runner-up richer by AED3,000, while third-place finisher will get AED1,500. There will be exciting giveaways for audience members as well. There is also a webinar featuring former football player Steven Taylor, on Saturday, April 25, starting 12 noon UAE time. A former Newcastle United defender, Taylor will speak about ‘The Toon, a life overseas and when the playing days are over’, in the webinar, which is a part of ‘The Player, The Coach, The Person’ Series. With traditional sports and outdoor activity coming to a standstill around the globe due to the COVID19 pandemic, Dubai Sports Council has been encouraging sports event organizers in the Emirate to embrace virtual sports and esports, and to come up with innovative solutions to keep members of the community engaged in physical activity at home To facilitate organizer, the Council has launched a special segment for registering Virtual Events on their www.dubaisc.ae website. Taking the lead in keeping the community physically active at home, Dubai Sports Council had organized a Marathon at Home, which was a huge success with participants from around the globe. Since then, the Council has also organized a ‘Be Fit, Be Safe’ Sprint Challenge and a five-stage Virtual Tour Challenge via Dubai Sports Council’s Dubai Cycling app, which is available on both the Android and iPhone platforms. Cycling is one of the most popular sport and fitness activity in the UAE, and DSC’s Virtual Tour Challenge aims to give an opportunity to these cyclists to compete from the safety of their homes, as well as encourage others to embrace this sport and continue working on their fitness at home. That is the main focus of Dubai Sports Council’s “Be Fit, Be Safe” campaign, which is running under the hashtag #DSCchallenge. The “Be Fit, Be Safe” initiative has received widespread support with top football stars like Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs, former Spain international Michel Salgado, rising Portuguese star Joao Felix backing the campaign alongside greats like Luis Figo of Portugal, Brazil’s Roberto Carlos, Carles Puyol of Spain, Italy’s Gennaro Gattuso, and Frenchman Nicolas Anelka among many others. The campaign has also received widespread support from the community, with experts from the fitness industry and some of UAE’s top sports stars, taking part alongside many others, including mums and dads, and schoolkids, of different nationalities. As part of the campaign, DSC has also linked up with some of the leading brands from UAE’s fitness industry to offer free daily virtual fitness classes, led by certified fitness trainers. — SG