United Arab Emirates at the 2012 Summer Olympics

The United Arab Emirates National Olympic Committee was recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 1 January 1980.[1] The nation debuted at the Olympics four years later at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games, and have taken part in every Summer Olympics since, making London their eighth appearance at a Summer Olympiad.[2] They have never participated in a Winter Olympic Games.[2] The 2012 Summer Olympics were held from 27 July to 12 August 2012; a total of 10,568 athletes represented 204 National Olympic Committees (NOC).[3]

The United Arab Emirates named its Olympic team at the Dubai Aquarium on 21 June 2012.[4] It sent 26 athletes to complete in the London Summer Olympics: 2 in track and field, 18 football players, 3 shooters, and 1 each in judo, swimming and weightlifting.[5] This was the largest Olympic team that the nation had sent to the Olympic Games.[6] Along with the athletes, the United Arab Emirates sent the president of its NOC Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and various government delegates to the Games.[7] Shooter Saeed Al Maktoum was chosen as the flag bearer for the parade of nations during the opening ceremony,[7] and a LOCOG Games Maker held it for the closing ceremony.[8]

Betlhem Desalegn (pictured in 2016) was the only women to represent the United Arab Emirates in athletics.

Betlhem Desalegn was 20 years old at the time of these Games,[9] and was likewise making her only appearance in Olympic competition as of 2020.[10] She qualified for the women's 1500 metres event by setting a personal best of 4 minutes and 8.87 seconds at a meet in Casablanca on 9 June 2012.[11][12] Desalegn underwent intensive training in Addis Ababa as preparation for the Olympics. Her coach said he was optimistic she would advance beyond the first round of the contest due to her light weight and fitness.[12] On 6 August, Desalegn entered the first round of the women's 1500 metres, and was assigned to run in heat three.[13] She finished the race in a time of 4 minutes and 14.07 seconds, placing 14th out of 15 athletes in her heat.[14] Since the top three in each heat plus the next six fastest runners could make the semi-finals, Deslaegn was eliminated from the competition because she was 35th overall.[lower-alpha 1][13] She said she was disappointed with the result because she had a cold which hindered her performance.[14]

At the age of 26, Mohamed Abbas Darwish was the only male athlete in the sport of athletics.[5] He was making his debut in the Olympic Games in London,[15] having qualified for the men's triple jump by using a wild card since his personal best was 5 cm (2.0 in) less than the "B" qualifying standard of 16.85 m (55.3 ft) for his competition.[16][17] Darwish trained under the coach Svetoslav Topuzov to prepare for the London Olympics,[18] and did so barefooted.[16] On 7 August, he took part in the qualifying round of the men's triple jump.[19] Darwish fouled on his first try, but he achieved his best mark of 16.06 m (52.7 ft) on his second attempt,[20] which put him 13th in Group B and 24th overall.[lower-alpha 2][19][22] Only the top 12 overall finishers were allowed to progress from the qualifying round to the final, and therefore, he was eliminated from the competition.[23] Darwish said post-event that he did not where he was weak but that he would improve his performance in time for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[20]

Men

Women

Ismail Matar (pictured in 2014) was the only goalscorer in the men's football tournament for the United Arab Emirates.

The United Arab Emirates under-23 team qualified for the men's football tournament by topping Group B in the third preliminary round of the men's Asian qualifying rounds. It was the first time that the nation had qualified for an Olympic football tournament.[24] The 18-player squad and 4 alternate players included players from clubs in the UAE Pro League and three players over the age of 23.[25] The country was drawn to play Great Britain, Senegal and Uruguay in Group A.[26] Its first match was between Uruguay at Old Trafford, Manchester on 26 July. Ismail Matar took the lead for the United Arab Emirates with a 23rd minute goal from an Omar Abdulrahman left footed pass. Uruguay took a 2–1 win with goals from Gastón Ramírez on 42 minutes and Nicolás Lodeiro after 56 minutes with involvement from Luis Suárez both times.[27] They faced the Great Britain side three days later at Wembley Stadium, London. Great Britain captain Ryan Giggs headed in a Craig Bellamy cross to take the lead for the home team in the 16th minute. The UAE had tied the match at 1–1 with a goal from Rashed Eisa, but Scott Sinclair restored his team's lead with another Bellamy cross on the 73rd minute. The home team took a 3–1 victory when Daniel Sturridge curled the ball over the top of UAE goalkeeper Ali Khasif's head.[28] At the City of Coventry Stadium, the UAE drew 1–1 to Senegal in its final match of the tournament as the nation finished bottom of the group and advanced no further with a single point.[29]

Roster

The following is the United Arab Emirates squad in the men's football tournament of the 2012 Summer Olympics.[30]

Coach: Mahdi Ali

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	2012 club
1	1GK	Ali Khasif*	(1987-06-09)9 June 1987 (aged 25)			Al Jazira
2	2DF	Saad Surour	(1990-07-19)19 July 1990 (aged 22)			Al Ahli
3	2DF	Abdulaziz Hussain	(1990-09-10)10 September 1990 (aged 21)			Al Shabab
4	2DF	Mohamed Ahmed	(1989-04-16)16 April 1989 (aged 23)			Al Shabab
5	3MF	Amer Abdulrahman	(1989-07-03)3 July 1989 (aged 23)			Baniyas
6	2DF	Ali Alamri	(1989-01-07)7 January 1989 (aged 23)			Al Nasr
7	3MF	Ismail Al Hammadi*	(1988-07-01)1 July 1988 (aged 24)			Al Ahli
8	2DF	Hamdan Al Kamali	(1989-05-02)2 May 1989 (aged 23)			Al Wahda
9	4FW	Ahmed Ali	(1990-01-28)28 January 1990 (aged 22)			Baniyas
10	4FW	Ismail Matar* (c)	(1983-04-07)7 April 1983 (aged 29)			Al Wahda
11	4FW	Ahmed Khalil	(1991-06-08)8 June 1991 (aged 21)			Al Ahli
12	3MF	Habib Fardan	(1990-11-11)11 November 1990 (aged 21)			Al Nasr
13	3MF	Khamis Esmaeel	(1989-08-16)16 August 1989 (aged 22)			Emirates
14	2DF	Abdelaziz Sanqour	(1989-05-07)7 May 1989 (aged 23)			Al Sharjah
15	3MF	Omar Abdulrahman	(1991-09-20)20 September 1991 (aged 20)			Al Ain
16	3MF	Rashed Eisa	(1990-08-24)24 August 1990 (aged 21)			Al Wasl
17	3MF	Mohamed Fawzi	(1990-02-22)22 February 1990 (aged 22)			Baniyas
18	1GK	Khalid Eisa	(1989-05-15)15 May 1989 (aged 23)			Al Jazira
19	4FW	Ali Mabkhout[lower-alpha 3]	(1990-05-10)10 May 1990 (aged 22)			Al Jazira

* Over-aged player.

Group play

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Great Britain	3	2	1	0	5	2	+3	7	Qualified for knockout stage
2	Senegal	3	1	2	0	4	2	+2	5
3	Uruguay	3	1	0	2	2	4	−2	3
4	United Arab Emirates	3	0	1	2	3	6	−3	1

Source: [31]

26 July 2012

17:00

United Arab Emirates	1–2	Uruguay
Matar  23'	Report	Ramírez  42' Lodeiro  56'

Old Trafford, Manchester

Attendance: 51,745[32]

Referee: Peter O'Leary (New Zealand)

29 July 2012

19:45

Great Britain	3–1	United Arab Emirates
Giggs  16' Sinclair  73' Sturridge  76'	Report	Eisa  60'

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 85,137[33]

Referee: Roberto García (Mexico)

1 August 2012

19:45

Senegal	1–1	United Arab Emirates
Konaté  49'	Report	Matar  21'

City of Coventry Stadium, Coventry

Attendance: 28,652[34]

Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (Norway)

The ExCeL London, where Humaid Al-Derei took part in judo competition

Humaid Al-Derei was 21 years old at the time of the Games and was making his Olympic debut. He was the second Judoka after Saeed Rashid Al Qubaisi to represent the United Arab Emirates in Olympic competition.[9][35] Al-Derei received a wild card entry to the London Summer Olympics by participating in the 2011 World Judo Championships in Paris,[35] but this was upgraded to a direct entry through his participation in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.[36] He trained in Belarus, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates as preparation for the Games;[37][38] he was required to wear sunglasses due to an eye disease that gave him extreme sensitivity to light.[36] Al-Derei said his objective for the Games was to perform to the best of his ability, "I will do what I can and the rest I will leave up to God."[37] He took part in the second round of the men's 66kg competition at ExCeL London on 29 July and faced world number 10 Ahmed Awad of Egypt.[36][39] Al-Derei lost when Awad caused an elbow injury to the former that restricted his movement a minute after the game commenced and executed a match-winning Ippon after 2 minutes and 37 seconds. He said post-match that Awad's grip was too tight but was proud to have competed in the Olympics.[39][40]

Athlete	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Humaid Al-Derei	Men's −66 kg	Bye	Awad (EGY) L 0001–0101	Did not advance[39]

The Royal Artillery Barracks, where three Emirati shooters competed in the men's double trap shooting competition.

Aged 35 at the time of the London Olympics,[41] Saeed Al-Maktoum was making his fourth appearance at the Olympic Games.[9] He attained qualification for the skeet competition after winning two bronze medals at the 2012 Asian Shooting Championships in January.[42] Al-Maktoum trained in the United Arab Emirates and attended a long-term training camp Italy before the Games.[43] Ahmad Al Kamali, the UAE Athletics Federation president, said his experience gave him an opportunity to win.[43] On 30 July, Al-Maktoum took part in the qualification round of the skeet tournament at the Royal Artillery Barracks. He finished 13th of the 36 participating shooters with a score of 118 points. Al-Makotum was thus eliminated at the qualification round since he scored two points less than the two lowest scoring qualifiers.[44] He said afterwards that some errors in the qualification round and rushing himself on occasion led to his elimination.[41]

Juma Al-Maktoum was 28 years old at the London Games and was debuting in Olympic competition.[45] He qualified for the Olympic double trap tournament by winning the gold medal in the discipline at the 2012 Asian Shooting Championships.[46] Al-Maktoum went to a training camp outside of Milan in Italy before the Games.[47] He said of his chances in London, "It is a matter of pride that I am here to represent my country at an Olympic Games. I don’t want to feel any pressure, but everything has gone well with my training."[47] On 2 August Al-Maktoum competed in the qualification round of the men's double trap at the Royal Artillery Barracks. He finished 13th out of 23 finishing shooters with a score of 133 points after he scored a respective 42, 45 and 46 points in all three rounds that were contested.[lower-alpha 4][49] Al-Maktoum scored four less points than the two lowest scoring shooters and was not able to advance to the final of the event.[48]

The oldest member of the team at the age of 39,[5] Dhaher Al-Aryani was making his debut in the Olympic movement.[50] He qualified for the Games for the men's trap event through his participation in the 2012 Asian Shooting Championships.[51] The team's trap shooting coach Rustam Yambulatov said that hot weather would be advantageous to Al-Aryani.[52] He partook in the qualification round of the men's trap competition held at the Royal Artillery Barracks between 5 and 6 August. Al-Aryani placed 32nd out of the 34 entered shooters with a two-day score total of 107. He accumulated 17 points less than the two lowest ranked qualifiers and his competition ended at the qualification round.[53] After the Games, Al-Aryani said, "Now after finishing this competition against some of the world's best champion shooters, I have learnt so much that I feel confident for the future."[54]

The London Aquatics Centre, where Mubrarak Al-Besher competed in swimming events.

Mubarak Al-Besher, who at the age of 24 was competing in his first Olympic Games,[55] was granted a universality place from the world governing body of swimming FINA after his best time of 1 minute and 4.60 seconds was 0.99 seconds slower than the "B" (FINA/Olympic Invitation) qualifying standard for the men's 100 metre breaststroke.[56][57] He attended training camps in Málaga, Spain and London, United Kingdom and later swam in the first leg of the Mare Nostrum meets as preparation for the Games.[58] Al-Besher stated his objective was to record a personal best and would perform to the best of his ability,[59] "Inshallah, I’ll clock another personal best in London. I’m expecting a surprise there, So God willing, if I clock 1min 3sec or 1min 2sec, I will be very happy in London."[58] On 28 July, he competed in the first heat of the contest, finishing second out of four swimmers, with a time of 1 minute and 5.26 seconds. Al-Besher placed 42nd out of 44 swimmers overall and failed to advance to the semi-finals since the competition's formal allowed only the quickest 16 competitors to enter the semi-finals.[60] After he was eliminated, he commented on his result, "I was very nervous today because it was my first time at the Olympics but still I’m happy I got the chance to compete against the best in the world."[61]

Khadija Mohammed participated on the United Arab Emirates' behalf in the sport of weightlifting.[5] At age 17, she was the youngest athlete to represent the nation at the 2012 London Games,[5] and was making her debut in the Olympics.[62] Mohammed qualified for the Games through her nation's fifth-place finish at the 2012 Asian Weightlifting Championships in South Korea in April that year,[63] making her the first Olympic female athlete from a Gulf country to earn automatic qualification, the first Emirati woman weightlifter to qualify for the quadrennial event and the first hijab wearing athlete in her Olympic sport.[64] She was poorly prepared because of financial issues and delayed payment of salaries.[65] Mohammed said that she wanted to venture to London to make "a statement on behalf of women from the UAE and the Gulf countries" and inspire young girls to take up weightlifting.[66] On 3 August, she partook in the women's heavyweight (–75 kg) weightlifting competition at ExCel London.[67] During the event's snatch phase, Mohammed was given three attempts, successfully lifting 51 kg (112 lb) of weight before failing at 53 kg (117 lb). She then successfully lifted up to 62 kg (137 lb) during her three tries in the clean and jerk phrase.[68] Overall, the combination of Mohammed's highest scores in snatch (51) and clean and jerk (62) yielded a score of 113 points.[62] She ranked ninth in the event, 152 points behind the gold medallist Lidia Valentín of Spain.[lower-alpha 5][69] Afterwards she said, "I would never trade this feeling for anything else in the world. This was my time to do something for my country and I think I did the UAE proud. There is nothing more than this feeling and I want to go on and bring medals for my country."[67]

• United Arab Emirates at the 2012 Summer Paralympics