Abu Dhabi and Dubai franchises will take us to ‘another level’ says Baseball United CEO Shaikh

For Kash Shaikh, November cannot come quickly enough.

The founder and CEO of Baseball United, the first professional league dedicated to baseball in the Middle East and Asia, last week signed partnership with the Emirates Cricket Board ahead of the organization’s competitive launch in five months’ time.

Things are steadily falling into place for the Dubai-based league.

Baseball United’s first showcase will involve four franchises facing off in four games, before an eight-team league follows a year later.

“It’s exciting for us,” Shaikh told Arab News while in Dubai. “It’s historic for Baseball United, it’s historic for professional baseball. It’s historic for sport within the region, because for the first time ever, we were able to receive sanctions that no other international organization has ever received. In our partnership with Emirates Cricket Board, we received a 15-year term to host, lead and develop baseball and at the professional level, all the way down to the youth level in the UAE.

“We’re really excited for Abu Dhabi and Dubai to be the foundation for professional baseball within the Middle East.”

Initially, Baseball United’s team rosters will be packed with established international players, but the agreement opens the door to developing regional talent in the coming years.

“I’m really grateful to the ECB, including the chairman, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al-Nahyan, (and) Vice Chairman Khalid Al-Zarooni, for their vision, and their belief and their support. Because a big part of that has been how we can grow with the game at the youth level here in (the) UAE. How we can help young kids get inspired about the game, how we can help young kids get more active by creating and introducing a new sport in