Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Formerly known as the World Clubs Championship the Club World Cup will be held in the UAE for the next two years and with it will come the FIFA bandwagon of officials, sponsorship deals and media.
This is not a bad thing for a region that is slowly but significantly making an impact on the 'world game'.
The roots of this tournament lie in the Intercontinental Cup which had its inaugural game in 1960. It was a two-legged affair and was contested between Real Madrid, winners of the European Cup, and Uruguayan team Peneral, who were champions of the newly-formed Copa Libertadores.
With no sponsor and no prize money this competition was often watered down by the European champions refusing to take part but all this changed in 1980 when Toyota took over and a 'winner-takes-all' match was played in Tokyo each year.
In 2005, the format was extended to include the champions of Africa, Asia, North America and Oceania and with the hosts then included this made it into a seven-team tournament. However, in order to satisfy the two most dominant continents the games include a knockout format that means the champions of Europe and South America only enter the fray at the semi-final stage.
The first game on December 9 will be between hosts Al Ahli FC and Auckland City FC at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium. Al Ahli has won five league titles including this year's by one point from Al Jazira.
The football world, whilst not dropping everything to make sure they watch the event, will have at least a passing interest on proceedings and an eye-catching performance from an individual may well lead to one of the world's leading clubs making contact.
It is well within their capabilities to progress to the next round where they will come up against the winners of either the North American, African or Asian championships with two of these still to be decided. Only Atlante FC of Mexico has secured a place with the other continents' representatives being decided later on in October and November.
The winners of these two quarter-finals will then play either Barcelona or Club Estudiantes de La Plata of Argentina in the semi-finals.
Club Estudiantes, nicknamed El Pincha, are not one of the big guns of South America but they do have a history in this competition, winning it once and losing in the final on two other occasions. Their main architect is former Manchester United and Chelsea player Juan Sebastian Veron who is much more at home in the measured passing game of South America.
However, the best passing side at this competition is, of course, Barcelona and their inspirational midfield of Iniesta, Xavi and Messi. If they take this competition seriously then they will be hard to beat.
In fact Sepp Blatter & Co. will be desperate for a top class performance from the Catalan side as nothing gives an event such as this more credence than a world class display from a world class team.
If the final on December 20 is a display of passing, intricate football, with plenty of goals, expect to see pictures of some very happy FIFA delegates sitting in the stands.
UAE may not be the centre of world football and it does not have the heritage of Italy, Brazil or England ... but the Gulf is a football mad region - just take neighbouring Bahrain's fantastic fans in the World Cup qualifiers for example - and the organisers will ensure this tournament is as big a spectacle as possible.
This will be one more step, along with Brazil playing England in Qatar, Gulf Air's sponsorship of QPR and ADUG's ownership of Manchester City towards the region becoming an integral part of the footballing world.
The money has never been a problem or the passion and now they are beginning to have the influence ... and the three together prove to be an irresistible combination.
