One FIFA World Cup, two European Championships, two Olympics, three Ryder Cups, three different Formula One world champions, the sacking of Jose Mourinho by Chelsea, and Lance Armstrong being exposed as a serial cheat.
Then there was David Moyes’ ill-fated succession to Sir Alex Ferguson at Man United, Manchester City’s astonishing victory over QPR with two stoppage time goals in the last game of the season in 2012 to seal their first title in 44 years, and the death of Muhammad Ali – just some of the international sports stories that stand out for me in six and a bit years and 2,000 editions as editor of Sport360.
But it’s not just the international scene which has got us this far because the development of sport in the region has played just as important a role in helping us achieve what we set out to do when Sport360 was launched in September, 2010, which was to become an unrivalled multi-platform sports media company.
The UAE was already well on its way to becoming an international sports hub by combining world class facilities, almost perfect weather conditions for the majority of the year, and a determination to be the best hosts which has attracted the world’s top stars, from Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, to Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal and many others. The Dubai World Cup at Meydan was already an unrivalled horse racing event, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix had set new standards as far as F1 facilites are concerned, the Dubai Marathon was world class and the Arabian Gulf League was improving every season.
We were lucky that we had these incredible tournaments, amongst others, and facilities to support, grow alongside and provide the kind of coverage they had never seen before. And perhaps even more importantly, a big part of our mission was to encourage more participation and a healthier lifestyle and it is encouraging to see that happening.
As in any start-up, there were plenty of cynics who predicted we wouldn’t last for 200 editions, never mind 2000, but we have reached this milestone thanks to the incredible hard work, professionalism and dedication to excellence from the entire Sport360 team and quite extraordinary support from you, our audience, and clients. Without you we would not be here today.
Apart from the newspaper, which continues to grow in a challenging market delivering the very latest sports news and expert opinion thanks to our 2am deadlines, and our two websites, one English language and one Arabic, we also run successful awards events and school tournaments which have connected sporting communities like never before. And talking to people on these occasions it is satisfying to hear that we really have made a difference.
Inside today’s special edition wraparound you will find quotes from business and sporting leaders giving their views on Sport360 and throughout this paper you will see more comments from sports stars and celebrities – like Bacary Sagna below – revealing their thoughts on what we have achieved and I thank them all for their kind comments.
The 2,000th issue is still only the foundation for us to build on in the future so on behalf of everybody at Sport360 I would like thank you for your support and hope you stick with us as we expand, improve, innovate and embrace the challenges of a fast-changing sporting landscape with confidence.
