After the UAE narrowly missed out on a second World Cup appearance (the UAE previously took part in the 1990 World Cup in Italy; this time they were edged out in qualifying by Qatar), the global sports elite are gathering in the sunny Gulf emirate around the turn of the year.

At the Globe Soccer football summit in Dubai on Sunday, Cristiano Ronaldo was named Middle East Player of the Year. The captain of the Portuguese national team has been playing for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia since 2022 and has for years been a welcome guest at sports conferences in the Gulf emirate. He owns a luxury villa in the Jumeirah Bay Island district, also known as «Billionaire Island».

Fifa Awards from 2026 in Dubai

Fifa President Gianni Infantino has already announced on Monday at the World Sports Summit 2025 in Dubai that from 2026 onwards, the Fifa World Football Awards will be permanently hosted in Dubai. Previously held under the name «The Best Awards» in various metropolises, the ceremony brings together the most influential figures in world football to honour the best players, teams, and performances of the past year in the «beautiful game».

«These World Football Awards will not just be an awards ceremony but an innovative way to celebrate football and to honour the official top performers of the year both on and off the pitch,» said the Swiss-Italian football official.

The Fifa boss has never made a secret of his sympathy for the Arab world. On November 25, Infantino accepted Lebanese citizenship, which was granted to him by the president of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, upon request and as a symbolic gesture—above all because of his connection to Lebanon and his commitment to football. At the World Cup, which will take place from June 11 to July 19 in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, six Arab teams will participate: Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan (for the first time), Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt.

Infantino was euphoric at the posh Madinat Jumeirah holiday resort: «Forty-eight teams are taking part, from 48 countries—that’s a quarter of the world. There will be 104 matches, so 104 Super Bowls in just one month to determine the world champion. We have some world champions here who know exactly what it means to win the World Cup. It will be very, very emotional. There will be 6 to 7 million people in the stadiums, and around 6 billion people watching from home.»

Advantage Dubai

Both veteran star Roger Federer and French tennis beauty Kristina «Kiki» Mladenovic call Dubai home. Lionel Messi and David Beckham are also reportedly increasing their millions with real estate investments in the Gulf. Tunisian player Ons Jabeur, currently the best Arab tennis professional, recently founded a tennis academy named after her in Dubai Academic City. She and her husband, tennis coach Karim Kanoun, are expecting their first child—a son—in April 2026.

Dubai attracts residents with extensive tax exemptions, security, a globally connected airport, and almost year-round sunshine. Around the turn of the year, «Fly-Buy-Dubai» advertises pleasant Mediterranean daytime temperatures during winter.

Former Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain defender Mamadou Sakho founded the luxury real estate and interior design company «Sakho & Co» in Dubai in early 2025, linking his entrepreneurial career after retirement to the city’s market. Beyond the VIP funds that stars invest in the city, their choice of Dubai also brings an enormous global advertising effect.

Bayern Munich prefers home over harbour

Shortly before Christmas, however, the Gulf metropolis had to accept a small disappointment. Contrary to many expectations, FC Bayern Munich will not travel to Dubai for winter training. In recent years, Bayern fans had used their stars’ January training camps in Doha, Qatar, to combine them with a vacation.

That will not happen in January 2026. Bayern’s new partner, the Dubai state airline Emirates, had offered a flight, but there is no contractual obligation to travel to the Gulf, the club said on its website.

The Bundesliga leaders of the 2025/26 season announced that the tighter schedule ahead of the Fifa World Cup in the summer does not allow for a trip so shortly before the start of the DFL second half of the season on January 9.

The Bayern team, led by striker Harry Kane and captain Manuel Neuer, will train at home with coach Vincent Kompany and play a friendly against FC Red Bull Salzburg on January 6.