CAIRO – 16 January 2020: Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, along with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed have both arrived in South Sinai’s Sharm El-Sheikh to attend the opening of the camel racing.
The festival was attended by tribal leaders and locals who have raised posters to welcome both leaders.
The racing festival on Thursday will witness the participation of 52 camels from Egypt, which will run for four kilometers during the race. The festival is set to last until Sunday.
Earlier this month, the United Arab Emirates has sent Egypt a batch of camels from one of the breeds as a present for racing. Head of the Egyptian Camel Racing Federation Eid Hamdan told Egypt Today that the eight camels were sent to contribute to reproducing camels for racing.
He stressed that this batch of camels is considered effective and will achieve a strong economic return for camel owners. He hailed the role of the UAE in supporting Egyptian camel racing as a sport.
The camel racing in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh will take place with the participation of camels from South Sinai, North Sinai, Ismailia, Suez, The New Valley, Upper Egypt, Cairo and Giza.
Saleh Abu Mohammed, head of the Camel Club in South Sinai's Nuweiba said in November that the support of the UAE, represented in its Camel Racing Federation, had provided an opportunity for Egyptian camels to show their strength in competition, while keeping pace with the modern trend in camel races through using the riding robots.
Remote controlled robots have been widely used in camel racing instead of child jockeys due to pressure of human rights bodies.
In October, the first version of the international camel racing festival in Sharm Al-Sheikh, also sponsored by the UAE, was launched with the participation of 600 camels from different governorates.
Also, Egyptian camels occupied the first four positions in a racing at the Crown Prince Camel Festival at the King Faisal Park in Taif, Saudi Arabia, in August this year.
Thu, Jan. 16, 2020
