Abu Dhabi (Aletihad)

The General Authority of Sports (GAS) is nearing the end of a project series, "Transformation of Sports Federations" (TSF) as part of 17 objectives outlined in its National Sports Strategy 2031.

The last phase of the TSF project, spread over three stages, involves field visits to six federations – archery, judo, shooting, fencing, athletics, and cycling – and has been initiated. During these field visits, GAS is engaging in discussions on the primary strengths of the federations and future strategies to enhance their efficiency in governance, administrative and technical matters.

The objective of TSF project is to fortify the principles of management and institutional governance within sports federations. Through the TSF, said His Excellency Sheikh Suhail bin Butti Al Maktoum, Executive Director of the Sports Development Sector at GAS, "we anticipate a substantial transformation in the technical and administrative operations of sports federations.

"This initiative aligns with the strategic focus on the growth of sports sector institutions and the enhancement of their contribution to the national economy, which is one of the three key directions outlined in the National Sports Strategy.

The project aims to achieve this transformation by providing increased funding, strategic guidance, and administrative support to targeted associations, thereby fostering enhanced managerial and technical capabilities within the federations.

"Moreover, the project is committed to ensuring financial independence, enabling federations to generate revenue from the private sector, aligning with wise leadership's vision. This approach is in line with the ambitious strategy to elevate the sports sector's contribution to the non-oil GDP eight-fold, reaching 0.5 per cent. Additionally, the project aims to increase the number of athletes eligible for the Olympics to more than 30 by the year 2031."

The final phase is scheduled to run for three weeks. Throughout this duration, all field visits to the concerned sports federations will be completed, accompanied by a comprehensive review of the documents submitted by these federations. This marks the conclusion of project's final phase of its first session, preceded by two comprehensive stages.

In these stages, GAS dedicated efforts to monitoring and analysing the strategies, objectives, and initiatives of the federations. They ensured alignment of key performance indicators with each federation's strategic priorities and thoroughly examined their operational models.

Furthermore, an assessment was conducted on the organisational structure, policies, procedures and regulations of all six federations. This encompassed various aspects including administrative and media communication methods, available technologies, and budget management mechanisms.

Barring cycling, GAS has signed a performance agreement with the five sports federations. The TSF project aims to professionalise the federations, enhance the skills of athletes, and transition from a fixed financing system to a performance-based financing model.

In the second stage of the project cycle, GAS deployed a specialised team to provide daily support to the federations and ensure continuous communication with them. There were customised workshops for each federation while regular meetings and sessions conducted to monitor the progress.