UAE bar Drogs’ Israeli manager

DROGHEDA UNITED has abandoned plans to attend this month’s football industry conference Soccerex, after its general manager was told he would be refused admission to the United Arab Emirates.

Drogs general manager Ophir Zardok was hoping to attend the November 26-29 convention in Dubai, which gathers companies, clubs and national federations to discuss industry topics, network and do business.

However, because he is an Israeli citizen he was told he would not be allowed to enter the UAE, of which Dubai is one of the emirates.

“I was supposed to be going to the exhibition, but I’m not going now,” Zardok said. “I’m Israeli and I’m not allowed to get into Dubai. In the beginning (the organisers) told me ‘no problem’ but a few weeks ago I got a note saying ‘terribly sorry, you’re Israeli, you’re not welcome’. That’s life.”

Drogheda are planning to unveil plans for a move from United Park to a new stadium in the coming weeks and Zardok’s intention was to meet with stadia experts and suppliers and to look into sponsorship strategies.

“The club’s profile is rising and we’re working on a new stadium and we were looking to explore some opportunities over there, especially sponsorship packages. There are also people there who could help us with the stadium, to advise us and explore some opportunities with them as well, the scoreboards we’re looking at it, the kind of surface we would put in.”

Zardok said Soccerex would have been the perfect place to achieve all those goals.

“Absolutely, I was on the FIFA Masters In Sport programme and a number of my friends from that are going to learn some stuff. So I know it’s going to be very beneficial for the people going there, no matter what aspect of the game you are involved in.”

There is some light on the horizon for Zardok, however. Soccerex will next year change location from the Middle East to South Africa.

“Please God, I’ll be there next year,” he said.

Cork City were also planning to attend Soccerex this year having received an invitation from the organisers, but their current financial plight has forced them to cancel their trip, said the Leesiders’ general manager Derek Kiely.