It was the venue where Oman national football team had lifted the Gulf Cup for the first time in 2009 and Oman military football team emerged champions in the World CISM Football Cup in 2017.
The Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex (SQSC), which was opened in October 1985, hosted different regional and international sports events and was the stage for different domestic accomplishments.
According to the Ministry of Sports Affairs’ website, the top sports facility in the Sultanate had won the Unesco Medal in 1995, as the best youth institution that provides outstanding sporting and educational services for young people through its various facilities. Based on the statistics, SQSC was ranked as the top venue that provided different sporting facilities to the athletes as it reached more than 199,818 beneficiaries.
The complex, which was opened by the late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, was approved by the top sports organizations including the Asian Olympic Council which ranked it as a world-class sports venue that is fully equipped with all the facilities to host mega sports events.
In an area of 800,000 square metres, SQSC has more than 15 facilities that include an approved football stadium, integrated indoor hall, Olympic swimming pools, hockey field, tennis courts, squash court, sports medicine centre, football training fields, indoor training halls, athletics track, beach courts and accommodation for teams.
The football stadium is equipped with high standard lighting and monitors. It can accommodate more than 28,000 fans and it has 28 doors for entrance with a royal seating zone. It has a range of changing rooms besides dedicated rooms for referees, press conference hall, VIP lounge, rooms for commentators, audio/video testing room, monitoring room and TV studio.
Besides the football green field, the team’s accommodation facility can include more than six teams. It has many other facilities including entertainment zone, gaming area, dining zone, library, conference hall and other related facilities.
The athletes in the Sultanate are awaiting the decision of the Supreme Committee to resume their training and competitions at the SQSC as the sporting activities were stopped over the COVID-19 outbreak.
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