MUSCAT: The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth has handed over the Oman’s newly-built state-of-the-art hockey stadium located in Al Amerat. The venue is in best shape and full readiness to host the inaugural edition of men’s and women’s FIH Hockey5s World Cup matches from January 24 to 31.
Ahead of world class hockey event start, the new hockey arena will be under good rehearsal for FIH Men’s Olympic Qualifier tournament from January 15 to 21. As many as eight teams including Germany, New Zealand, Canada, Chile, England, Malaysia, Pakistan and China will vie for the three direct spots to the Paris Olympics 2024 in the same venue that will host the Hockey World Cup. The first official match that will be played in the new stadium will be between Germany and Canada on January 15. The match will start at 2 pm (Oman time).
The hockey stadium is an outdoor sporting arena comprised from a main stadium for hockey sport. It has other facilities including a warm-up pitch and the stadium was built as per the approved standards of FIH. The provided facilities in the stadium are: administration offices, players changing rooms, first aid area, rooms for referees and judges, special access for security people, main platform designated for VIPs and the fans’ stands, as well as a special platform for television broadcasting and other facilities in the complex.
The arena can accommodate more than 5,000 spectators and the construction has just been completed. The seating area for spectators are removable and could be used in other stadiums as well for any future events and tournaments. The venue was designed and built according to the international rules and standards of FIH and based to the accumulative expertise of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth.
GREAT VENUE
Basil bin Ahmed al Rawas, Under-Secretary for Sports and Youth at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, said that the hockey facility is fully ready for top events. "The newly-built stadium will act as great venue for the domestic hockey competitions and tournaments besides its capability to host the regional and international levels of hockey events. The project was delivered within five months since its beginning of the construction works by the contractor. The closest event that will be hosted in this venue will be FIH Men’s Olympic Qualifier tournament and will be followed by the men’s and women’s FIH Hockey5s World Cup,” Al Rawas said.
The chairman of Organising Committee of Men’s and Women’s FIH Hockey5s World Cup affirmed that availability of strong sports infrastructure will boost hockey sport in the Sultanate of Oman. “This new stadium will be added as an additional accomplishment to the sports development projects. Furthermore, the ministry is busy currently in converting His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik’s directions to begin steps to carry out a project for establishing an integrated Sports City capable of hosting regional and international events,” he added.
Dr Marwan bin Juma al Juma, Chairman of Oman Hockey Association (OHA), said that the facility acts as a significant step in Oman’s sports history in general and hockey sport in special. “This huge project will serve a lot to the domestic hockey through developing the national hockey competitions and championships besides boosting the technical performance of the national teams. Furthermore, this project will provide special attention to the junior category players through establishing an academy for hockey to accommodate the potential players,” he signed out.
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