Dubai 'bigger and better' than ever as McIlroy, Federer & Ronaldo head to town

It's that time of year again that Dubai dusts off its red carpet and gives the VIP treatment to some of the biggest names in sport.

Undeniably one of the world's sporting capitals, Dubai is the ultimate playground for sporting aficionados with world-class golf, rugby, football, tennis and horse racing all upcoming over the next four months.

We kick off with this weekend's DP World Tour Championship, the culmination of the European Tour's Race to Dubai, headlined by world No1 Rory McIlroy.

The Northern Irishman leads the field of Europe's top 60 players and will look to end his season with victory ahead of his coronation as the Tour's best player of 2014 on Sunday night.

WHAT: DP World Tour Championship
WHEN: Thursday-Sunday, November 20-23
WHERE: Jumeirah Golf Estate
COST: Free

From golf to rugby and the ever popular Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby 7s which has long been seen as Dubai's No1 sporting and social event.

And it promises to be 'Bigger and Better' than ever this year with a record of 224 teams (as compared to 206 last year), 3,304 players and 100,000 plus spectators descending on the Sevens Stadium for the three-day rugby feast.

Oh, and did we mention that the Aggreko Dynamos cheerleading squad will also be returning. Here's a sneak peek of what they've got in store for us:

WHAT: Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby 7s
WHEN: Thursday-Saturday, December 4-6
WHERE: The Sevens Stadium
COST: From Dh300

'F' is for football over the festive period with arrival of Europe's most decorated clubs Real Madrid and AC Milan for the highly-anticipated Dubai Football Challenge.

A sell-out crowd of 45,000 has already been guaranteed, in no small part to the promise of an all-star cast featuring the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Fernando Torres. This fellow will be there too:

And who knows, one or two could make an appearance at the Dubai Sports Conference on December 28-29 after Ronaldo's special guest appearance last year.

WHAT: Real Madrid v AC Milan, Dubai Football Challenge
WHEN: Tuesday, December 30
WHERE: The Sevens Stadium
COST: From Dh200 *Tickets have sold out

If that wasn't enough the whet the appetite, the OMEGA Dubai Ladies Masters and Dubai International Parachuting Championships will also be dropping into Dubai before the year is out.

Real Madrid's first appearance to the UAE will usher in the new year before thousands of runners take to the startline Downtown for the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon.

From there it's onto the Dubai Tour and OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic. Now in its 26th year, the region's premier golf tournament has come a long way since its humble beginnings. Or at least, the city has!

February sees the return of tennis royalty in the shape of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship, voted the best ATP 500 event on the tour. Roger Federer won his sixth Dubai title 2013. Will he back to try and make it a magnificent seven? We certainly hope so.

And if all of that wasn't enough, we conclude a hectic sports season with the pomp and ceremony of the world's richest horse race, the Dubai World Cup on March 28.

Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was in the winners enclosure this year after his horse African Story galloped to victory in the showpiece $10million race.

An event for the fashionistas among us too.

ABU DHABI

Not to be left out, the UAE's capital will also have the eyes of the watching world trained on it over the coming months, starting with this weekend's season-ending (and defining) Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix.

Mercedes already have the Constructors title wrapped up but which of their men will win the ultimate prize and become F1 World Champion: Lewis Hamilton or Nico Rosberg?

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will headline the Mubadala Tennis World Championship on January 1-3, while the Volvo Ocean Race stops off on its world tour. And lest we forget the HSBC Abu Dhabi Golf Championships, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2015.

Enjoy!