Warne, Kumble playing in Dubai by next year

STAR ATTRACTION: Cricket legends such as Shane Warne, pictured, could be playing at Dubai Sports City as early as next year, Balasubramaniam said. (Getty Images)

Dubai Sports City could host cricket's iSixes World Series as early as 2009, the city's chief executive ArabianBusiness.com on Wednesday.

U. Balasubramaniam said discussions were still underway as to whether the city's 25,000-seater stadium would host the lucrative new six-a-side tournament, which will include stars such as Shane Warne and Anil Kumble, but expressed confidence that a deal would finalised next year.

“The tournament organisers have come and seen our stadium and were impressed, but the details still have to be worked out," Balasubramaniam said in an interview.

He said Dubai Sports City would make an announcement once organisers’ plans were finalised and the tournament format clarified, which he expected to happen next year.

The first iSixes World Series event will take place in Singapore in July and feature teams from all nine Test playing nations, plus one team from the host country, all competing for a grand prize of $1 million.

Further stops are expected in Shanghai, Dubai and another city that has yet to be decided.

Organisers are currently in talks with the International Cricket Council (ICC) to have the tournament officially recognised.

The six-man format places a lot of emphasis on attacking play and is expected to draw huge crowds and television audiences.

Balasubramaniam said also anticipated Dubai Sports City would host of English Premier League football matches in the future, but not for another two years.

“There is a huge following [of football] in the region. Imagine our 60,000-capacity stadium with Arsenal and Manchester United playing [in it] - that would be great,” he said.

England's Football Association (FA) has proposed the idea that from the 2010/11 season teams would play a number of games abroad, aimed at increasing the popularity of the league internationally.

However, the proposal has come under fire both at home and abroad.

Dubai Sports City is set on 50 million square feet of land within the Dubailand development.

The city will feature four stadiums: a 60,000-seat multi-purpose outdoor stadium; a 25,000 capacity cricket stadium; a 10,000-seat multi-purpose indoor arena; and a field hockey venue for 5,000 spectators.

It will also feature Ernie Els’ first golf course design in the Middle East: an 18-hole championship course named The Els that will be the centrepiece of a luxury golf residential community called Victory Heights.

Dubai Sports City will host a Manchester United Soccer School, the ICC's Global Cricket Academy, a David Lloyd Tennis Academy and the first Butch Harmon School of Golf outside the US.

Khalid Abdulrahim Al Zarooni, president of Dubai Sports City, said the project was well-advanced, with the Manchester United soccer academy, ICC cricket academy, and swimming and field hockey stadiums to be ready by 2010.

Victory Heights is to be handed over at the end of this year, he said.

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