Two UAE-born organisations come together through football, community and a shared belief in people, innovation and the future of Dubai
Dubai, : IRTH Group has been announced as the Principal Sponsor and Official Front-of-Shirt Partner of Gulf United Football Club (GUFC) for the 2026/27 season.
The partnership brings together two organisations born in the UAE, each built around people and driven by an ambition to challenge convention within their respective industries.
Founded in Dubai in 2019, Gulf United began as a football academy with a focus on creating opportunities for young players. It has since grown into a wider football organisation encompassing a professional First Team competing in the UAE First Division and an extensive Academy structure across multiple age groups.
That progression has been rapid. After entering the UAE football pyramid, Gulf United achieved consecutive promotions to reach the UAE First Division, while continuing to build its player-development pathway from Academy level through to the professional game.
The club now enters another important chapter under Head Coach Andrés Iniesta, who has chosen Gulf United as the place to begin his coaching career.
Andrés Iniesta’s place in football history is exceptional. A defining figure in one of FC Barcelona’s greatest eras, he won nine La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League titles with the club. With Spain, he became European champion in 2008 and 2012 and a FIFA World Cup winner in 2010.
His relationship with the UAE, however, predates this new role. Having played the final season of his professional career in the country and made Dubai home with his family, Andrés Iniesta’s decision to begin his coaching career with Gulf United represents a new chapter in an existing relationship with the city and the UAE.
His decision also reflects a strong alignment with Gulf United’s development philosophy: investing in young talent, creating pathways and developing players with patience, purpose and individual care.
Andrés Iniesta, Head Coach of Gulf United Football Club, said:
“We’re happy to partner with IRTH, a home-grown property developer with such a great reputation. We share the same passion for engaging with the community and giving opportunities to those within it. We’re excited for the season and are looking forward to working together.”
As part of the partnership, IRTH Group will feature on the shirts of Gulf United’s First Team and Academy teams across age groups, establishing a presence throughout the club. IRTH and GUFC will also collaborate across content, activations and community initiatives during the season.
A Partnership Born in the UAE
Commenting on the partnership, Osman Çeliker, CEO of IRTH Group, said:
“We are incredibly excited to begin this journey with Gulf United Football Club. There is something very natural about our coming together. IRTH and Gulf United were both born in the UAE, both put people at the centre of what they do, and both represent a new generation of companies with the ambition to think differently, innovate and challenge convention.
“To see Gulf United begin as an academy and evolve into the organisation it is today is remarkable. And for Andrés Iniesta to choose Gulf United as the place to begin the next chapter of his extraordinary football career says a great deal about what the club is building.
“Andrés Iniesta is one of the true legends of the game. He was at the heart of one of football’s great teams and has won the biggest honours in club and international football. But what makes this story particularly meaningful to me is that Dubai is already his home. His decision to begin his coaching career here, with Gulf United, reflects both his belief in this city and his belief in the project and the people behind the club. For IRTH to now become part of that story is something we are genuinely proud of.
“As the new season begins, I would like to wish every success to the First Team and to all the young players and age groups across the Gulf United Academy competing across Dubai. At every level of the game, the opportunity to participate, compete, learn and grow together carries a value that reaches far beyond results.”
Ahmed El Saraf, President of Gulf United Football Club, said:
“This partnership with IRTH Group represents something special: two organisations born and rooted in Dubai, with a shared belief in the city’s potential and a commitment to contributing to its future. We are proud to welcome IRTH Group as our main sponsor and look forward to building a partnership that creates value for our players, supporters and the wider community.”
More Than a Game
For IRTH, the relationship is intended to reach beyond the traditional boundaries of sponsorship. Through the season, IRTH and Gulf United will work together on initiatives that use football as a platform to connect people, create opportunities and contribute positively to the community.
For Çeliker, a lifelong passion for football also gives the partnership a personal significance.
He added:
“I have been a fan of football for as long as I can remember, so this partnership has a very personal meaning for me. I have always believed that football is more than football. It teaches discipline, responsibility, resilience, friendship and sacrifice. It teaches you how to win and, just as importantly, how to lose, learn, stand up and go again. And at the centre of it all is passion. I believe the same is true of anything you want to do exceptionally well in life. You have to care deeply about what you do, believe in it and bring passion to it every day.
“Football is also ultimately about teamwork, and so is life. In my daily work, I often use the way a football team functions as an example of how I believe a great working environment should function. Individual talent matters, but you need to understand your role, trust your teammate, become someone they can trust, and build the team spirit that allows everyone to move as one unit towards a common purpose, one that is greater than any individual within the team.
“That is why, for us, this partnership reaches beyond sponsorship. It is an opportunity to give back to the community we are part of, to bring people together and to create opportunities through the game we love. At IRTH, we call our philosophy ‘Legacy in Motion’ because we believe legacy is something you continue to build, shape and carry forward. If what we build together can positively influence people’s lives and create something meaningful for the generations coming after us, then that is a legacy worth building.”
The Season Ahead
Gulf United enters the 2026/27 season with its First Team competing in the UAE First Division, supported by an Academy structure representing the club across numerous age groups and competitions in Dubai.
The partnership will see IRTH represented across the Gulf United organisation while the two partners develop a programme of content, community initiatives and activations bringing together players, families, supporters and the wider Dubai community.
Both organisations see the 2026/27 season as the beginning of a relationship with the potential to grow through their shared commitment to people, opportunity and the city they call home.
About IRTH Group
IRTH Group is a UAE-born real estate development company creating spaces shaped around people and the way they live, work and connect.
Bringing together development, design, hospitality, culture and innovation, IRTH approaches each project with the ambition to create experiences and destinations with meaning beyond their physical form.
Its philosophy, “Legacy in Motion,” reflects the belief that legacy is not simply something left behind, but something continuously built, shaped and carried forward. Through its developments, partnerships and community initiatives, IRTH seeks to contribute meaningfully to the evolving story of Dubai and the UAE.
About Gulf United Football Club
Founded in Dubai in 2019, Gulf United Football Club is a football organisation built around player development and creating pathways through the game.
Having grown from its beginnings as a football academy, Gulf United today combines an extensive Academy structure with a professional First Team competing in the UAE First Division, providing a pathway connecting youth development with professional football.
The club is committed to developing talent, creating opportunities for young players and contributing to the continued growth of football in Dubai and the UAE.