The National Library and Archives enriches its cultural season with a seminar on UAE sports documentation in which distinguished experts and specialists of the field participated

Participants in the National Library and Archives organized seminar entitled: "UAE Sports Documentation" stressed that the sports sector has received unlimited support from the wise UAE leadership, following in the footsteps of the Founding Father and Builder Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. This seminar comes as part of the National Library and Archives’ cultural season 2022 activities.
The symposium participants pointed out that since the UAE establishment in 1971, the interest in establishing clubs and stadiums has been accompanied by an increase in the number of sports, national teams, and participation in international sports forums, where Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan’s vision for this field was reflected in establishing distinguished modern sports facilities and also in their increased number.
The Emirati writer and journalist Mohammed Al Joker talked about the importance of sports documentation, quoting Sheikh Zayed's words: "A nation that does not know its past cannot have a present or future" as documentation preserves the memory of the nation. He also stressed that the UAE leaders are athletic figures and sports movement advocates.
He discussed his sports documentation experience and pointed out that he has enriched the cultural and sports circles with nineteen books, most of which document the emergence and history of sports movement in the UAE, while some of these books were published by the National Library and Archives.

Mr. Mansour Abdullah, Chairman of Board of Directors of the Arab Football Association for Statistics  and Documentation,  then spoke about the professional and documentary importance of football chronological documentation, and reviewed his efforts since he was seventeen years old in documenting teams and athletes’ achievements, and his continuous reading and predictions in that field, which made him a leading Specialist and Data Analyst yielding important results and useful information to sports teams.
The seminar was concluded by Dr. Sultan bin Harmool Al Shamsi, who documented in his book "Unforgettable Memories" the beginnings of the UAE football where he accumulated his football memories from 1943 to 1974.
Al-Shamsi stressed that real football was introduced into the UAE through some Adeni clubs in 1943, where Sharjah teams played several matches in Sharjah against Adeni teams, in something similar to a sports league.
 It is noteworthy that the National Library and Archives seeks through its cultural season 2022 to present historical UAE topics in an easy way through which all people may benefit, and to allow public access to this culture to enhance future generations’ historical memory and national culture.