Arguably the most visited place for a destination wedding, honeymoon, vacation and the likes, Dubai is set to play host to a major tech sporting event come 2017 but not without recording history first.
The line between the popular notion of ‘sport’ as a form of physical activity as opposed to an automated model of activity is getting blurred and the government of the United Arab Emirates might be contributing to it. At the weekend, the first ever World drone Prix held in Dubai and it saw 15 year old Luke Bannister from England and his team mates win $250, 000 after controlling a drone using a VR headset as it made its way through an elevated, beautifully lit, crooked and spiral track to the their victory. Four pilots, yes, the guys who flew/controlled the drones, raced twelve laps, ducking and diving in response to commands from handheld controls from their owners. 
“It is not merely a flying game, but a sport that requires mental focus and accuracy to enable users to harmonize mental commands and hand movements to fly their drone,” Saif Mohammed al-Suwaidi, the aviation authority’s director-general, said in a statement at the time.
The World Drone Prix is a new contest hoping to take flight both in Dubai, a country fast adapting to the practicality of technology and planning to impress sports fans worldwide, as they have with tourism and travel.
Evident, however is the fact that they already have that ticked off their list of sectors to redefine, as a Cabinet-level minister announced the World Future Sports Games in 2017. Apparently, the $250,000 won by the British teenager was a quarter of the total $1m set aside for the inaugural edition of the World Grand Prix as a build up to the big games next year December. At the World Future Sports Games, competitions will include robotic swimming, running, wrestling and car racing, as well as drone flying.
