DUBAI: Asia Rugby’s council has ratified a decision to establish the governing body’s operations office in Dubai, formalizing an administrative arrangement that places its day to day base in the United Arab Emirates while keeping its legal headquarters in Hong Kong. The decision was confirmed at a videoconference meeting on March 17 chaired by Asia Rugby President Qais Al Dhalai. The action gives formal council approval to a structure that the regional rugby body said had been under consideration following earlier agreements with UAE authorities.
The council vote approved the establishment of the Dubai operations office while maintaining the union’s legal headquarters in Hong Kong, creating a defined division between where the organization runs its administrative work and where it remains legally domiciled. Asia Rugby said 27 of the 28 unions attending the meeting voted in favor of the decision. The ratification followed an agreement signed with the UAE government in mid 2022, linking the council action to a process that had already been in place before this week’s formal approval.
Asia Rugby said the Dubai office will be hosted at the headquarters of the UAE Olympic Committee, anchoring the body’s operations within a national sports institution in the Emirates. In remarks released around the decision, Al Dhalai acknowledged support from the UAE government, the Ministry of Sport and Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, president of the UAE Olympic Committee. The announcement framed the move as an operational step for the regional body while preserving Hong Kong as the seat of its legal headquarters.
Council ratification formalizes dual base
Asia Rugby’s public contact information already reflects that arrangement. On its official website, the body lists its head office at No 307, UAE NOC Building, Al Nahda, Dubai, while its domicile is listed separately at Room 2001A, Olympic House, 1 Stadium Path, So Kam Po, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Those published addresses mirror the structure endorsed by the council vote, distinguishing the Dubai office as the working base for operations and Hong Kong as the location of the union’s legal headquarters.
The same contact page identifies Ben Van Rooyen as chief executive and provides Dubai based head office details for organizational correspondence, reinforcing that the operational framework had already been visible in the body’s published records before the council’s latest action. By ratifying the Dubai office at council level, Asia Rugby has now placed that arrangement on a formal governance footing. The decision also provides a clear official distinction between administrative management in Dubai and the legal domicile retained in Hong Kong.
Official records align with governance move
Asia Rugby serves as the regional association responsible for rugby administration across Asia, working with member unions on competitions, development and governance matters. Its 2026 competition calendar lists events across multiple Asian markets, including fixtures in Dubai in the Asia Rugby Emirates Men’s Championship. Against that backdrop, the council’s decision clarifies where the regional body will manage its operations as it oversees a broad calendar of tournaments and union activity, while leaving the legal headquarters unchanged in Hong Kong under the structure now ratified.
The council action sets out Asia Rugby’s operating and legal framework in official terms and closes a governance step tied to the 2022 agreement with UAE authorities. Dubai will host the organization’s operations office at the UAE Olympic Committee headquarters, while Hong Kong will remain the union’s legal headquarters and domicile. With the member vote now recorded and the office structure publicly aligned with the body’s official contact details, Asia Rugby has formally confirmed the dual base from which it will be administered. – By Content Syndication Services.