Dubai Rugby Sevens organisers praise police and rugby fans

This content was originally posted in 7DAYS UAE website at: Dubai Rugby Sevens organisers praise police and rugby fans Sevens chief Donal Kilalea has praised the efforts of police and thanked fans after more than 100,000 descended on the Sevens Stadium for a weekend of rugby action. The hugely popular event saw increased security, but it did not prevent fans from flocking to the desert stadium. “I have to take my hat off to the Dubai authorities and the police as they worked even longer than us,” said Kilalea, who is tournament commercial and operations manager at the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens. “We came in at 6am they were already here and they stayed long after we left. I have the utmost respect for them.” The extra security led to queues on Friday and some complaints from fans, but the organisers were able to make changes as yesterday saw nearly 40,000 come to the stadium. “We had some issues with queuing but people let us know and we managed to turn that criticism into plaudits,” said Kilalea. “We got it wrong and immediately looked at ways of changing it and thankfully it worked. When this began 46 years ago it was all on sand and we have grown enormously. Even when we got involved in 2003 there were only around 21,000 people coming. Now we have more than 100,000 over three days. So we are extremely happy with how everything has gone.” Sevens fan Reggie Avery said: “I’ve been coming for over 20 years so I remember the old Exiles ground with the mud pitches,” he said. “Originally I was based in Bahrain so I used to come across but now I’m based in Abu Dhabi and always come down. The rugby has been great this year, and it’s been good to see America doing so well. “The atmosphere has been great and it really picks up when it gets dark.” John Faiumu and friends travelled from Australia to support Samoa: “We’d never been to a sevens tournament before so we wanted to support Samoa and celebrate our friend’s birthday. “It’s everyone’s first time in Dubai and it’s great to see everyone supporting their country. The rugby is so much better live than watching on TV.” adrian@7days.ae Read the original story at: Dubai Rugby Sevens organisers praise police and rugby fans