From sand pitches with lime-powder lines to 6,000 players and Stormzy on stage - Dubai Sevens 54 years on

The Middle East’s longest running annual sports event keeps getting better and bigger

What would the pioneers of the Dubai Sevens have made of it now? They would have at least known all about grime, although perhaps not in the 2024 sense of the word.

When the Middle East’s longest running annual sports event started back in 1970, in the year before the formation of the UAE, the majority of players were British servicemen. Supporters at the invitational sevens tournament in the desert sat in the backs of lorries, or stood on the touchline.

Players arrived ready dressed, given the lack of changing facilities. Before the final, a Land Rover would be driven up and down the pitch to smooth it out and the lines were remarked using lime powder.

The tournament was played on sand up until 1995. Some players would wear high-topped basketball shoes to try to limit the amount of sand that could get inside. Others played barefoot. Knee protectors were de rigueur. And iodine was liberally applied to prevent infections from the grime that would get into cuts and scrapes.

How times change. This weekend, the thousands of players involved – from as disparate origins as Ukraine, Israel, Georgia and Monaco – will have the run of immaculately kept grass fields. And the weekend will culminate with a performance from a multi-award-winning grime artist.

Stormzy might not be quite the biggest headliner the Emirates Dubai Sevens has ever had. Kylie Minogue’s appearance at the 50th anniversary tournament might just edge it.

But the cast for this weekend as a whole is unparalleled. Stormzy will be on the main stage on Pitch 8, shortly after the Men’s World Series final has concluded on Pitch 1 on Sunday evening. The Sugababes and Artful Dodger will also be performing during the weekend.

The evidence of how far the event has spread from its roots 54 years ago is everywhere. There will be participants from 128 countries across five sports: rugby sevens, netball, cricket, fitness, and padel. Last year’s Sevens hosted more than 6,000 players and 560 teams.

The cricket tournament will include a match between teams bearing the names of the official supporters clubs of England and India – the Barmy Army and the Bharat Army, respectively. Dinesh Karthik, the former India star, will presumably have a keen interest in that fixture in particular, given his role as the cricket tournament’s official ambassador.

Despite all the changes, sevens rugby remains the main pillar of the event – and yet even that has transformed in recent times.

Back in 1999, when the newly created world sevens series started in Dubai, New Zealand were more or less unrivalled. Fiji were regarded as the most talented side. And England were regular contenders. In the most recent season, New Zealand finished third, Fiji were seventh, while England do not even have a team any more.

The latter is the exception that proves the rule that not all progress is for the better. Now the English, Scottish and Welsh fans all have to play nice with each other in the scaffolding stands at The Sevens, seeing they are all backing the same team – a Britain side who have struggled so far in their trips to Dubai.

The standard bearers in men’s sevens now are totally different to in the past. Argentina were the World Series winners last year. Ireland, who have rapidly gone from nowhere to become a major force in the abridged format, were the runners up.

And Jerome Daret was last week named the World Rugby Coach of the Year – beating Rassie Erasmus and Andy Farrell in process – for overseeing France’s rise to become Olympic gold medal winners. Antonie Dupont, who won the Sevens Player of the Year award, will be absent now, though.

For all the changes, at least one thing remains the same. No one is more formidable on the field of Dubai than the South Africa men’s team. They are going for a sixth Dubai title in a row this weekend.

“Dubai feels like a second home for us, with many South African fans here,” their captain, Impi Visser, said.

“Maybe it’s the excitement of a new season starting but we always seem to jump the gun and be fast starters in Dubai. Hopefully we can do that again this weekend and continue it throughout the season.”