Both Abu Dhabi and Al Ain are competing with Doha in Qatar to land the rights to build the region's first Angry Birds theme park. Picture courtesy Rovio
Both Abu Dhabi and Al Ain are competing with Doha in Qatar to land the rights to build the region's first Angry Birds theme park. Picture courtesy Rovio

Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Doha in race to win 'world's biggest' Angry Birds theme park



Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Doha are all racing to win the rights to build the region's first Angry Birds amusement park.

Gebal Group, the local agents for Lappset, the developers of Angry Birds theme parks have been approached by the three municipalities keen to build what is touted to be the world's biggest such attraction.

"We are speaking to private investors in Doha and the UAE, all are interested to install the first Angry Birds theme park in the region, but Doha is in the more advanced stages of negotiation," said Nigel Cann, director of operations and development at Gebal Group. "The presentations have been made, now investors are looking for a space and deciding whether to have an outdoor or indoor park."

The mega-park is set to cost up to Dh60 million and is expected to be completed within the next 18 months depending on which city wins the contract.

There is already Angry Birds theme parks in Singapore, UK and Finland all with a focus on interactivity and physical activity.

"It is the interactive world meeting the physical world, we are trying to get children off sofas and outside to get some physical exercise. With the higher levels of diabetes and obesity in the region, the developers hope the park will encourage more physical activity," said Mr Cann.

Angry Birds is the world's most downloaded game it has amassed more than 1 billion downloads globally since its launch in 2010, including more than 21.8 million across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait. Game players use a slingshot to launch different types of "angry birds" to destroy pigs that have been eating their eggs.

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UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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Uefa Nations League: How it works

The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.

The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.

Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.

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