Sharm Al-Sheikh to host camel racing starting Nov. 14

CAIRO – 3 November 2019: South Sinai's city of Sharm Al-Sheikh is preparing to host a three-day camel racing festival, starting November 14, sponsored by the United Arab Emirates, head of the Egyptian Camel Racing Federation Eid Hamdan al-Muzaini said.

The race is divided into 30 rounds – Only three rounds will include men riding the camels, while camels in other rounds will be controlled by remote controlled robots, Muzaini told Egypt Today, adding that the owner of the winning camel in each of the rounds would be rewarded.

Salama Ibrahim, head of the competitions committee of the federation, said that the camels from various Egyptian governorates are currently being registered, adding that each of the participating camels must be carrying the electronic chip containing all the data of the ride.

Saleh Abu Mohammed, head of the Camel Club in South Sinai's Nuweiba said that the support of the UAE, represented in its Camel Racing Federation, had provided an opportunity for Egyptian camels to show their strength in competition, while keeping pace with the modern trend in camel races through using the riding robots. He added that valuable prizes would be granted for winners.

Remote controlled robots have been widely used in camel racing instead of child jockeys due to pressure of human rights bodies.

In October, the first version of the international camel racing festival in Sharm Al-Sheikh, also sponsored by the UAE, was launched with the participation of 600 camels from different governorates.

Also, Egyptian camels occupied the first four positions in a racing at the Crown Prince Camel Festival at the King Faisal Park in Taif, Saudi Arabia, in August this year.