Check out these great photos from the thrilling 3-day event on JBR Beach in Dubai. Organized by MBM Holdings and DUPLAYS, over 4,000 people attended the FootVolley World Cup 2011 to cheer on 32 men’s teams and 4 women’s teams from 27 countries. Brazil took home the title, defeating Paraguay in close fought match Saturday night with HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum and many other distinguished guests in attendance.

Write-up from Sport 360: “Brazilians Display Silky Samba Skills in Dubai” by Reem Abulleil

Brazilian teams stole the show at the Footvolley World Cup UAE 2011 yesterday, stunning the crowds with some mind-blowing skills at Jumeirah Beach Residence.

The sport which combines both football and volleyball originated from the beaches of Brazil and it’s no surprise they came to Dubai with nine teams in total, five men’s and four women’s.

The day started with group stage matches that were left over from Thursday, before things heated up in the last 16.

All five men’s teams from Brazil were placed in one group, which meant that Group A saw the hottest matches of the tournament. Brazil1 and Brazil2 advanced to the last-16 before they dominated in their matches against Netherlands1 and England2.

Both Brazilian teams will face-off again in the quarter-finals today.

“It’s always very tough to face another Brazilian team,” said Brazil1 star Piao. “But we are looking forward to a good match and we are hoping to give the crowd another entertaining match.”

The ladies of Brazil wowed the audience with two exhibition matches, and one of the contestants, Vanessinha, who has been playing footvolley for 11 years, said she was amazed by the reaction from the stands and how far the sport has come.

She said: “It’s so amazing to see footvolley here, and seeing people watching with surprised eyes. It makes me feel really happy because footvolley was created in Rio and now to see it being played here in Dubai by all these people, it’s just great.”

The tightest affair of the day was between Paraguay1 and Portugal2, where Paraguayans Victor and Oddi pulled off a terrific comeback to win 23-21 and book themselves a quarter-final spot against their compatriots Jesus and Quicho (Paraguay2), who beat Netherlands2.

“The tournament is number one, it’s very special,” said Victor. The UAE team comprising of Jamal Seif – also the tournament director – and Mohammed Rashed Al Sewedy had lost all their group stage matches the previous day to Spain, Norway and Uruguay, but Seif said he finds solace in the fact that the tournament has proven a big hit amongst both the players and the spectators.

“I would like to apologise for our level in the matches, but if we are talking about the level of organisation, we have done a fantastic job.

“The feedback has been great and the players and their teams explicitly told us that this is the best footvolley event they have attended across the world,” said Seif.

The UAE team is ranked 11th in the world and have won some impressive matches prior to the World Cup but unfortunately could not replicate that form in Dubai.

Alongside the FootVolley World Cup, DUPLAYS organized a 2 day beach volleyball tournament – JBR Beach Sport Fest. Enjoy these photos of the action:

DUPLAYS was proud to organize the UAE vs Duke basketball game in Dubai on 25-Aug-2011. In front of over 2,000 fans the UAE National Team played exceptionally well against one of the best teams in US college basketball, Duke.

DUPLAYS handled everything from planning, ticketing, and promotion to setup, manpower, event day management. Want DUPLAYS involved in your next large scale event? Contact us at info@duplays.com.

Enjoy these photos and videos from the game below:

Congrats to all the teams who battled it out on the courts over two days of intense streetball action in Sharjah. With 4 divisions (Men’s, Women’s, Boys’, Girls’) of teams competing for 25,000 AED in prizes, the competition was fierce and the UAE’s best ballers came out to showcase their talents.
Enjoy this slideshow of teams and action shots:
Here are some video highlights from the Slam Dunk contest! More Sharjah Streetball videos can be found on DUPLAYS YouTube channel.

For more, here’s the event page on facebook:

We’ve got 50+ videos of the best football freestylers in the world competing head to head at DUPLAYS Beach Sport Park on the Abu Dhabi Corniche. Below we have some videos from the top 24 freestylers as well as the final matches of the 2v2 tournament (50 teams). Special thanks to Samsung for making it all possible. Enjoy!

Classic (intense!) battle: Yosuke vs Was

3-way FINAL battle: Sean (France) vs Rene (Germany) vs Petike (Hungary)

In addition to the 24 world-class freestylers, 15 UAE freestylers competed with Bilal (video below) winning top honors as the UAE’s Best Freestyler.

Battle: Yorok vs Bilal

Fifty teams also competed in an intense 2v2 football competition. Congrats to Daredevils for their victory of Sustainable Energy — who beat team “S3” composed of top freestylers Sean (France) & Bencok (Belgium).

Daredevils vs Sustainable Energy

Sustainable Energy vs S3

S3 vs Egypt! (don’t miss Bencok’s crazy goal at 4:15 mark)

Use this window below to navigate through the full 50 video playlist

DUPLAYS closed out 2010 with a bang, crossing the 20,000 member mark on Dec 31, 2010. Three years after we started, 2010 was by far our biggest and best year yet. Below is our 2010 highlight reel in rough chronological order:

• 1st, 2nd, and… 3rd Beach Games
• 4 corporate “Beach Games” events: DPG, Brooks Multiplex, Lloyds TSB,  Johnson & Johnson
• Snickers World’s Longest Football Match 42 hours 5 minutes = new Guinness World Record!
• UAE Nations Cup by Gillette 48 teams from 27 nations playing  5v5 football over 2 days
• 1st investor in DUPLAYS
• 1st office opened at JLT
• 4 corporate leagues (ADAT, Standard Chartered, Al Tayer Group, ADIB) plus 1st sector league
• 1st facility to call our own: Abu Dhabi Beaches Sports Park with 4 beach volleyball courts+
• Presented at Abraaj Capital’s awesome Celebration of Entrepreneurship 2010
  • won “Pitch your business” contest before panel of VC judges/audience
• NBA Jam Fest Abu Dhabi 2010 5 divisions, 128 teams, 490 players over 3 days
• 1st title sponsor: Al Nabooda Automobiles VW
• 4 new full time team members (Suraj, Katie, Raza, Maz), doubling our full time staff
• 10,241 new members, doubling+ from 9,760 on Jan 1, 2010 to 20,001 on Dec 31, 2010

And that’s not to mention the heart and soul of DUPLAYS: our social and competitive sport leagues in the UAE. Thanks 2010 for being so good to us, and thank you for your support!

Here’s to a great 2011!

We want to hear from you. Tell us what you liked or disliked from your last DUPLAYS league, event or class. Just like in sports, we can only improve if you tell us the parts we need to get better at. Click “Submit” below when you’re done.

DUPLAYS was proud to organize the largest 3-on-3 tournament in the Middle East at NBA Jam Fest Abu Dhabi 2010. Over 3 days across 5 divisions, 128 teams and 490 players hooped it up.  Special guests included NBA Legend Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon , Knicks “City Dancers”, Bucks “Rim Rockers” and Pacers mascot “Boomer.

Below are some photo highlights
2 hour Youth Clinic (120 12-17 yr old players)

Boys (24 teams) & Girls (8 teams) divisions

Women’s (16 teams) division

Men’s (64 teams) & University (16 teams) divisions

Check out even more on our Facebook page (3,300+ fans!)

Forty-eight teams  represented 27 nations and competed in DUPLAYS 2-day 5v5 futsal tournament — the UAE Nations Cup by Gillette.

The indoor football action was intense with lots of great goals and gritty defense.  Congratulations to all the teams and a special thanks to Gillette for making the tournament possible with their generous support.

1st place: UAE Legions

2nd place: Iran Fabexi

more photos from the event below…

DUPLAYS is the UAE’s largest sport & social club with over 14,000 members.

Play sport. Be social. DUPLAYS.com

UPDATE 2010-10-20: Video highlights added below…

With Snickers’ support, DUPLAYS organized 36 footballers to play 1 match for 42 hours and 5 minutes in Doha, Qatar from May 28-30.

An official from Guinness World Records certified the event as the longest football match ever played!  After 2 months of preparation the nearly 2 days of football went surprisingly smoothly with only a few players having minor injuries.  Players slept and ate on the sidelines of the pitch, keeping a rotation that balanced playing time with rest/sleep.  The final score of the match was 293-236 — “Crunchers” (green) over the “Challengers” (orange).

City 7 TV and Sport on 7 host Graham Clews filed this video report from the match:

For more photos from the game you can visit the official Snickers website makefootballhistory.com and the Snickers WLFM facebook group.

Check out the official press release below…

Mars GCC – the leading regional manufacturer of confectionary products in the Middle East and its famous brand Snickers ® proudly announces it has stepped up to the challenge and broken the current Guinness world record for the longest football match by bringing together 36 real football fans from 10 different Arab markets to play a historical match that lasted for 42 hours and 5 minutes in Qatar. The match kicked off on Friday 28th at 8 am and ended at 2.05 am on Sunday.

Throughout the years, Snickers ® has been always associated with football. One of Snickers’ ® main aim by organizing the event is to challenge and unleash the football potential and create a tremendous amount of excitement among Arab youth in the region.

Commenting on the event was Omar Salim, Marketing Director, Mars GCC: “Snickers ® is proud to have achieved its goal in breaking the record for the world’s longest football thanks to the determination of the selected team. This accomplishment reflects the players’ high level of excitement about the game and the sense of closeness among Arab youth. Snickers ® succeeded in bringing Arab youth together to step-up to the challenge “Tahadi” and be more active while having fun and learning from others. Breaking the record by those youth echo a sense of responsibility and passion for the sport.”

This record-breaking attempt is done under the umbrella of the Snickers brand which stands for: “Don’t stop” and “Step-up”.

Mohammed Badri from KSA, one of the on-line winners of the Snickers “Make football history campaign” commented: “This has been one of the most exciting experiences of my life. I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to participate to such an enriching and unique adventure and to have bonded with mates from across the region that share the same passion for football as I do. The strong spirit of achievement we shared throughout the whole event has contributed to create very special friendships which we know will last forever.”

The game followed standard FIFA rules for a friendly match, with teams limited to 11 players on the pitch and 7 substitutes each. There was a set up for sleeping and resting and food/beverages.

There were a total of 36 players who participated in breaking the world record. Ten players were selected from users who played the online football game. The other 26 players were recruited among football fans who stepped up to the challenge.

A studied rotation was put in place to make sure no players run the risk of extreme over-exhaustion. A team of experienced sports organizers were in charge of setting schedules and managing players and their substitutions to make sure every player received adequate rest and care during the whole game.

The event was supported by City 7 TV as the exclusive media partner of the event.

Which nation has the best footballers in the UAE? Represent your nation! Get your countrymen together for one of the most exciting tournaments leading up to the World Cup.

DUPLAYS is hosting the UAE Nations Cup by Gillette, a true World Cup tournament, with 48 teams playing indoor 5-aside futsal.  Each team’s player must be from the same nation.  We know that there are lots of Emirati, English, and Egyptian teams but who else is up to the challenge? With over 50 nationalities currently playing in DUPLAYS football leagues, we expect  25+ nations to compete for the title. Don’t know any countrymen? Sign up as an individual and we’ll help connect you.

Register online at http://duplays.com/gillette

Date: June 4/5
Location: Soccer Circus in Mirdif City Centre, Dubai.
Details: 48 teams, 5-aside, men >16 years of age, min 5 players/max 8
Cost: 800 AED per team, each team gets 8 Nike team kits (jerseys and shorts)
Prizes: national pride + 18,000 AED in Sun & Sand Sports vouchers for top 3 teams

• Each member of a team must be from the same nation (one team member is allowed to be a wildcard — from any country). Passports/copies must be provided on event day.
• Friday June 4 – round-robin in groups (8), Saturday June 5 – top 8 qualifiers advance to knockout stage
• All team members must sign up online. If they are not registered, they will not be permitted to play.

How do you sign up? 1. Sign up online http://duplays.com/gillette 2. Pay online or at one of the designated locations starting May 23.

Join as a team or as an individual.  Individuals — you MUST indicate your country in the comments box and if we find enough individuals from your country, we’ll place you together on a team.

Why sign up first? Registration closes June 2nd but we forecast country slots will fill up immediately. Only the first team representing each nation is guaranteed a spot. The 2nd, 3rd, etc teams per nation may be removed if a new, previously unrepresented nation signs up. We want to show the UAE’s diversity and include teams from as many nations as possible.

Which country will come out on top? Represent your nation! Sign up online: http://duplays.com/gillette