Roma legend Francesco Totti, Altetico Madrid manager Diego Simeone and Barcelona legend Carles Puyol are just some of the marquee names who will feature at this week’s 12th Dubai International Sports Conference.

The annual event has become a key date in the Middle East’s footballing calendar, attracting influential figures in the sport for more than a decade.

This tradition is set to continue at Madinat Jumeirah from December 27-28, with the first night also featuring the eighth edition of the Globe Soccer Awards.

A lengthy list of attendees and speakers was revealed on Sunday by Dubai Sports Council.

These further included FIFA president Gianni Infantino, ex-Juventus and Italy boss Marcello Lippi, former Milan and Italy manager Fabio Capello and Chairman of FIFA Referees Committee Pierluigi Collina.

The theme for the Conference is ‘Modern Investment in Football’ with three talks planned per day over the two day event.

Wednesday will see La Liga president Javier Tebas Medrano and Serie A CEO Marco Brunelli discuss ‘Best Practice in Professional Football Leagues, while the ‘Investing in Youth Sector’ session will include Altetico Madrid boss Simeone, Egypt coach Hector Cuper and ex-Italy coach Capello.

Also on Wednesday will be the ‘Economic Impact in Football’ session, which will be led by Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano, AS Monaco Vice President Vadim Vasilyev and Roma CEO Umberto Gandini.

Chinese national team coach Lippi, Chairman of FIFA Referees Committee Pierluigi Collina and Bundesliga referee Felix Brych start the final day on Thursday with ‘Technology and Football Development’.

Francesco Totti, Carles Puyol and UAE star Ismail Matar will then take to the stage for the ‘Players Investment During and After Career’, with the concluding ‘Future Investment in Modern Football’ featuring FIFA President Infantino.