A meeting was held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in late December to discuss the possibility if the U.A.E. Chess Federation bidding for the Olympiad in 2020 as well as the World Cup in 2019. During the last FIDE Congress in Abu Dhabi in September 2015, the President of the U.A.E. Chess Federation, Mr. Saeed Al Megbali, expressed his interest in organizing these two top FIDE events and said that the U.A.E. was ready to host the Olympiad as Dubai had done in 1986.

Mr Georgios Makropoulos, FIDE Deputy President thanked the U.A.E. Chess federation for their keen interest and recalled the Olympiad in 1986 in which he had had a pivotal role in the organization. He said he was sure that if U.A.E. Chess federation would organize the event, it would undoubtedly be one of the best Olympiads ever. Nevertheless, the Federation would have to put together a strong and professional bid as there were already a number of other Candidate cities who had expressed their desire to organize these events also.

Financial and technical matters regarding the bidding and organization were discussed in detail.

The meeting was also attended by FIDE CEO, Mr Geoffrey Borg and U.A.E. Chess federation CEO, Dr. Rashed Al Dhaheri.