Sports | Sunday 22 March, 2015 1:16 am |

Sixteen Abu Dhabi Companies On Board For Community Football Event

Sixteen of Abu Dhabi’s leading organisations have jumped on board to support Imperial College London Diabetes Centre’s Play for Life football tournament. Imperial College London Diabetes Centre is part of Mubadala’s network of world class healthcare facilities.

Now in its eighth year, the seven-a-side football event will be played over five nights at Zayed Sports City’s main stadium, kicking off on Sunday March 22. The event is set to attract 320 players, with each team able to enter up to 20 to play a round-robin format.

A newcomer to this year’s games is the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD), who are also Play for Life’s main sponsor.

The tournament is also seeing Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi and Healthpoint join its sister company, Imperial College London Diabetes Centre in the Play for Life Football Tournament, in an effort to encourage the community to embrace active lifestyles.

EAD’s Hamad Al Dhaheri, Deputy Executive Director, Corporate Services applauded Play for Life for being steadfast in its annual effort to get Abu Dhabi’s corporate executives away from their desks and onto the field.

“At EAD we are committed to making Abu Dhabi and the UAE a healthier place.

“Initiatives like Imperial College London Diabetes Centre’s Play for Life provide the perfect platform to encourage the corporate workforce to become more active. We are delighted to support it, participate in it and, of course, try to win,” he enthused.

Play for Life was first launched in 2008 as part of Imperial College London Diabetes Centre’s 'Diabetes-Knowledge-Action', which is under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak. 'Diabetes-Knowledge-Action' is a multi-faceted campaign which continues to promote a balanced diet, the maintenance of a normal body weight, as well as regular exercise as the smart and simple way of achieving a healthy lifestyle.

Play For Life has since seen more than 2,000 players and 20,000 spectators take part in helping to spread the ‘healthy lifestyle’ message to the Abu Dhabi community.

www.diabetesuae.ae
www.icldc.ae

Play for Life - Football 2015 Schedule:
• Nightly, from 7pm, March 22-26 2015 at Zayed Sports City
• 16 teams will be divided into four groups to compete in seven-a-side matches, each of 30 minutes duration.
• The match schedule is managed in a round-robin format.
• The final will be played on March 26, with the awarding of:
- Football 2015 Tournament Trophy
- Best Goalkeeper
- Best Player
- Top Goal Scorer
- Fair Play

- See more at: http://icldc.ae/news-releases/takreer-take-home-cup-icldc%E2%80%99s-seventh-play-life



About Imperial College London Diabetes Centre
Imperial College London Diabetes Centre is a one-stop, state-of-the-art, out-patient facility that specialises in diabetes treatment, research, training and public health awareness.

The Centre was established in Abu Dhabi by Mubadala Healthcare, in partnership with the UK’s Imperial College London, in 2006 to address the growing demand for diabetes care in the UAE. A second facility in Al Ain opened in 2011. Together, the Centres have offered diabetes prevention, education and treatment during almost 800,000 patient visits,

‘Diabetes-Knowledge-Action’ is Imperial College London Diabetes Centre’s award-winning public health awareness campaign. It was launched in 2007 under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak.

Imperial College London Diabetes Centre holds the Joint Commission International (JCI) Clinical Care Program Certification (CCPC) in Diabetes Management and JCI Accreditation for Ambulatory Care, awarded in 2010 and again in 2013. The 2010 award made Imperial College London Diabetes Centre the only healthcare provider worldwide to hold both certifications and the first facility in the Middle East and third globally to hold JCI’s highly-acclaimed CCPC specifically for the clinical management of diabetes.

For more information log on to www.icldc.ae