Sharjah Women’s Sports took part in the Middle East Sports Investment Forum (MESIF 2025), hosted in Madrid on 6–7 November 2025. The forum brought together senior decision-makers, global sports leaders, and investors from leading sports and economic institutions, with an audience of more than 250 participants.
During the forum, Hanan Al Mahmoud, Vice Chairperson of the Organization, delivered a compelling keynote titled “Investing in People.” Her address highlighted Sharjah’s distinctive approach to sports investment—one that places human development at the core of sustainable sport ecosystems.
Al Mahmoud explained that since its inception, SWS has been guided by the vision of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Chairperson of Sharjah Women’s Sports and Wife of the Ruler of Sharjah, a vision rooted in building an integrated sports ecosystem that begins at the earliest stages of life. Sharjah’s philosophy, she noted, is founded on the belief that facilities and infrastructure hold real value only when animated by people—individuals capable of giving them purpose, excellence, and lasting meaning.
She went on to outline the Organization’s institutional pyramid—a model developed through extensive comparative analysis of leading regional and international sports systems. This framework serves as a unified reference applied across all SWS programs and clubs, ensuring a seamless, long-term journey that starts with early childhood sport, progresses through talent incubators, specialized schools, and school championships, and culminates in elite performance and leadership development.
At the apex of this journey is the Sports Leadership Program, launched in partnership with Sharjah Capacity Development (Tatweer). To date, three successful cohorts have graduated, producing a new generation of young Emirati women now holding leadership roles across the sports sector.
Al Mahmoud emphasized that the Organization’s vision extends beyond supporting elite athletes. It also focuses on empowering retired athletes and women working across the sports ecosystem by activating sports professions within the legal framework and opening sustainable career pathways in coaching, officiating, media, sports therapy, and related fields—positioning sports careers as viable, long-term options for Emirati and Arab women.
She also referenced the Organization’s experience in organizing the Arab Women Sports Tournament, now the largest women’s multi-sport event in the Arab world. Held biennially, the tournament brings together more than 60 clubs from 16 countries, supported by strategic investments that reflect Sharjah’s commitment to expanding and sustaining women’s sports regionally and internationally.
The forum program included a special site visit for international delegations to Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, offering insights into advanced infrastructure and cutting-edge technologies used in the management of world-class sports venues.
Al Mahmoud concluded with a powerful message that encapsulated Sharjah’s philosophy of sports investment:
“When we assess sports investment, it is not enough to ask what we have built.
The more important question is: whom have we built?
This is Sharjah’s message and its enduring legacy—
we invest in people,
because it is the only investment that never loses its value.”
This participation reaffirmed Sharjah Women’s Sports’ position as a thought leader in redefining sports investment—placing human capital at the heart of progress, sustainability, and lasting impact.
