UAE rugby mourns

Rugby stalwart’s death highlights the role of unsung enthusiasts in popularising the sport

Neil Palmer, standing with UAE Rugby Federation secretary general Qais Al Dhalai, helped popularise rugby in this country. Courtesy UAE Rugby Federation

At the heart of most amateur endeavours, there is often an enthusiast toiling away, garnering little attention and few rewards but who is crucial to its eventual success. The UAE has lost just such a quiet achiever with the death of rugby stalwart Neil Palmer.

Palmer, 45, was an influential figure in the expansion of the sport in this country and founded, along with his wife Louise and some fellow rugby enthusiasts, Dubai’s Arabian Knights Rugby Football Club in 2008. As a member of the UAE Rugby Federation’s strategic advisory committee, he played a crucial role in developing the sport and encouraging Emiratis – male and female – to join the ranks of active players.

His sudden death on Friday will be felt most keenly by his family and friends, but it is also a loss to the community – and a call to recognise and praise all those unsung enthusiasts toiling away behind the scenes.