It was held over the weekend of 2–3 December 2016 at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Each team played the other three in its pool once.

The top two teams from each pool advance to the Cup bracket where teams compete for the Gold, Silver, and bronze medals.

The bottom two teams from each group go to the Challenge Trophy bracket.

[1] Fifteen core teams are participating in the tournament along with one invited team, the winner of the 2016 Africa Cup Sevens, Uganda:[2][3] Source: World Rugby (archived)