Hamdan Sports Complex celebrates 10th anniversary

The Hamdan Sports Complex, one of the world’s most iconic sports landmarks, is celebrating its 10th anniversary, following its inauguration on 10th October, 2010 by H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council.

Built on 24-hectares of land, the Hamdan Sports Complex is one of the world’s largest and most modern multi-purpose facilities, designed to host more than ten different Olympic sports, including basketball, badminton, handball and volleyball, alongside various aquatic sports, such as swimming, synchronized swimming, diving, synchronized diving and water polo.

Two months after its inauguration, the Complex hosted one of the largest aquatic events on the international calendar - the 10th FINA World Swimming Championships from December 15-19, 2010, which attracted participants from 153 countries.

This was the first time the Championships were held in an Arab country, and the competitors and officials was left impressed by the magnificent facility, with the manager of the Chinese contingent saying Hamdan Sports Complex was even better than the aquatic centre built for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Many other participants and FINA officials described it as the finest indoor aquatic facility they had seen.

Built on the outside in contrasting hues of blue with a glass façade, the cavernous complex boasts two 50-meter Olympic-standard swimming pools in its golden teardrop-shaped competition centre. Both pools have moveable floors, and they can also be covered to turn the arena into a sturdy surface fit for any non-aquatic sport event, or even non-sports events, such as conferences and exhibitions.

The swimming pools can also be transformed into 25-meter pools of varying depths by simply pressing a button. Adjacent to the pools is an Olympic-sized diving tank, equipped with diving boards at heights of 10m, 7.5m, 5m, 3m and 1m.

Rising over the 10-lane swimming pools and diving tank is a three-tier, horseshoe-shaped seating bowl that can accommodate 15,000 spectators. The fans, besides following the live action, can also view replays on four giant screens hanging from the ceiling in the centre of the arena. In addition to those four screens, there are four other text-display screens showing results and other information.

The Complex has also hosted other events, such as the Indo-Pak Kushti Championship in 2017 and the 2019 Marhalika Pilipinas Basketball League, which featured boxing legend Manny Pacquiao.

Among 248 local events hosted by the Complex, 57 were organized by the UAE Swimming Federation, 56 by Hamilton Aquatics academy, 20 by Speedo Swim Squads Dubai academy, and 81 by different schools and academies from across the country.

A total of 141,739 athletes have taken part in the competitions hosted by the Complex over the past 10 years, and 484,545 spectators from more than 195 countries have watched from the stands.

The Hamdan Sports Council has been awarded three International Organisation for Standardization, ISO, certificates: ISO 9001 for Quality Management System, ISO 45001 for Occupational Safety and Health Management System, and ISO 14001 for Environmental Management Systems.

Saeed Hareb, Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council, received the certificates from the Middle East representatives of ISO, in the presence of Ahmed Al Shafar, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hamdan Sports Complex, Nasser Aman Al Rahma, Assistant Secretary General of DSC, and Abdulla Shahdad, Director of the Complex.

News Source: http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302876124