Dubai is in a ten-day period of mourning.
On 21 September 2026, Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum — Deputy Chairman of Dubai Police and Public Security, and brother of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai — died at the age of 76. Flags are at half-mast across the emirate and the Dubai Fountain show has been suspended.
The news received almost no coverage in Japan beyond the racing press, which reported it as the death of a globally known owner. Yet he was one of the people who laid the foundations of the Dubai we know. As someone who lives and works in this country, I would like to set out what he did.
Ten days of mourning in Dubai
The Ruler's Court of Dubai declared ten days of mourning on 21 September, running to 30 September. This applies to the Emirate of Dubai, not to the UAE federation as a whole.
Flags fly at half-mast across Dubai for the duration. The Dubai Fountain at Dubai Mall has suspended its shows from 21 to 30 September. Condolences are being received at the Zabeel Majlis from 22 to 24 September.
The youngest son of the founder of modern Dubai
He was born on 12 July 1950 in Bur Dubai, the fourth and youngest son of the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the father of modern Dubai. His mother came from the Al Nahyan ruling family of Abu Dhabi.
His brothers include His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Ruler of Dubai; the late Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid, who ruled Dubai from 1990 until his death in 2006; and the late Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, who died in 2021.
A career in the military and in policing
After graduating from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom, he joined Dubai's Central Military Zone and became its commander in 1975.
In December 1997, under Decree No. 14 of 1997, he was appointed Deputy Chairman of Dubai Police and Public Security, modernising the emirate's security apparatus through a period of rapid population and economic growth. He was promoted to Lieutenant General in April 2005.
The sense of safety that residents take for granted in Dubai today rests on the systems built in that period.
What he built in Dubai
In 1991 he founded the Dubai Real Estate Centre (DREC), which holds more than 3,200 residential, commercial, retail and industrial units.
- Palm Spring Village — described as Dubai's first gated community, with 145 villas
- The Beach Centre — opened in 1993, the first mall built on Jumeirah Beach Road
- Dubai Creek Tower — 1995; an office building on the Deira side of the Creek. It is not the observation tower of the same name planned by Emaar at Dubai Creek Harbour
- A.R.M. Holding — formed in 2019 to consolidate his assets; he served as chairman
Gated communities and beachfront malls are ordinary features of Dubai now. The significance of having built the first of them, when there was nothing yet, only grows with time.
Al Wasl, and a life in sport
He was for many years President of Al Wasl Sports Club, one of the UAE's leading football clubs. The club began in 1960, when young men gathered at a house in the Zabeel district. It was originally called Al Zamalek and was renamed Al Wasl in 1974.
He took the chairmanship around 1962, shortly after the club's founding, at the members' request — he was about twelve. He supported the club for more than sixty years; it has won the UAE top-flight league eight times, most recently in 2023-24.
Between 2011 and 2012 the club was managed by Diego Maradona, which brought it brief attention in Japan.
In 1988 he became the founding chairman of the Dubai International Marine Club, and played a central role in the launch of Victory Team, the powerboat racing squad, the following year.
Yellow and black: a life in racing
In racing he was known worldwide by his silks: yellow with black epaulettes and a yellow cap.
- Mtoto — won the 1988 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, and finished second by a neck to Tony Bin in that year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Back-to-back wins in the Eclipse Stakes and the Prince of Wales's Stakes in 1987 and 1988
- Wassl — won the 1983 Irish 2,000 Guineas
- Ameerat — won the 2001 British 1,000 Guineas
- Addeybb — won the 2020 Champion Stakes, and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1) in Australia the same year, retaining it in 2021
- Elmalka — won the 2024 British 1,000 Guineas
- Saddadd — won the German Group 1 Grosser Preis von Baden on 6 September 2026
Saddadd's win came fifteen days before his death. His filly Elmalka had taken a British Classic in 2024 — he remained a front-rank owner to the end.
In Dubai he built Jebel Ali Racecourse in 1990, opening it for the 1991 season. As an owner his record stands at 614 wins from 4,475 runs, a strike rate of 13.7 per cent. He also launched the Al Adiyat Centre and the Dubai Racing Centre.
His horses are not running during the mourning period. In Britain, Wadooda was withdrawn from the Monday card at Leicester on 21 September; horses being readied for Newmarket's Cambridgeshire Meeting (24–26 September) are not expected to run, and the two-year-old Sharadd was not among the confirmations for Saturday's Tattersalls Middle Park Stakes (G1).
Philanthropy
In June 2021 he extended his support to the establishment of the Hamdan bin Rashid Cancer Charity Hospital, an Al Jalila Foundation project. The hospital is named after his brother Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, who died that same year.
The funeral, and Sheikh Mohammed's words
The funeral prayer was held at Zabeel Grand Mosque at 1pm on 22 September. His brother His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai, performed the prayer, joined by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed — Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence — and His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. Both are sons of Sheikh Mohammed and nephews of the deceased.
Sheikh Hamdan then led the funeral procession, accompanied by Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed, Second Deputy Ruler of Dubai. Burial took place at Umm Hurair cemetery.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed published the following tribute on his official account.
رحم الله الشيخ أحمد بن راشد آل مكتوم.. رحمك الله يا أخي … حللت عند رب كريم عظيم .. تغيب عن أعيننا ولا تغيب عن دعائنا وقلوبنا يا أحمد. أسكنك الله فسيح جنانه .. وألهمنا وأحبابك الصبر والسلوان.. وإنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون.
“May God have mercy on Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. May God have mercy on you, my brother. You have settled with a Generous and Great Lord. You are absent from our eyes but never from our prayers and hearts, O Ahmed. May God house you in the vastness of His gardens, and grant us and all who loved you patience and solace. To God we belong, and to Him we return.”
From those of us who live here
Dubai went from desert to what it is today in a few decades. That did not simply happen. People made it safe, made it liveable, and gave others a reason to come.
Sheikh Ahmed was one of them. The modernisation of the police, Dubai's first gated community, the first mall on the Jumeirah seafront, the racecourse, the football club — each was a first step towards something residents now take for granted.
As people who live and work in this country, we offer our sincere condolences to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to the Al Maktoum family, and to the people of the United Arab Emirates.