The Al-Saada Stadium ( ar, أستاد السعادة), also known as Al-Saada Sports Complex ( ar, مجمع السعادة الرياضي) is a government owned multi-use stadium in the Al-Saada district of

Salalah Salalah ( ar, صَلَالَة, Ṣalālah) is the capital and largest city of the southern Omani governorate of Dhofar. Its population in 2009 was about 197,169. Salalah is the third-largest city in the Sultanate of Oman, and the largest city ...

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

. The stadium is used only for football matches and is the home stadium of Salalah-based clubs

Dhofar The Dhofar Governorate ( ar, مُحَافَظَة ظُفَار, Muḥāfaẓat Ẓufār) is the largest of the 11 Governorates in the Sultanate of Oman in terms of area. It lies in Southern Oman, on the eastern border with Yemen's Al Mahrah G ...

, and Al-Nasr. The stadium has originally had a capacity of an estimated 12,000 people, but due to renovation in 2010 the stadium became an

all-seater An all-seater stadium is a sports stadium in which every spectator has a seat. This is commonplace in professional association football stadiums in nations such as the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. Most association football and Ame ...

decreasing the maximum capacity to an estimated 8-9,000 spectators. Although being opened officially in 2009, the stadium ever since has been undergoing renovation, and because of protest from the football community in the city because of the unexpected outcome, the stadium has undergone a plan to eventually house close to 20,000 spectators. Aside from the stadium itself, there is also a

sports complex A sports complex is a group of sports facilities. For example, there are track and field stadiums, football stadiums, baseball stadiums, swimming pools, and Indoor arenas. This area is a sports complex, for fitness. Olympic Park is also a kind ...

housed within the compound, which includes a hockey field,

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...

Olympic-size swimming pool An Olympic-size swimming pool conforms to regulated dimensions that are large enough for international competition. This type of swimming pool is used in the Olympic Games, where the race course is in length, typically referred to as "long cour ...

, and an indoor

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

stadium. Unlike the

Salalah Sports Complex Salalah Sports Complex ( ar, مجمع صلالة الرياضي) also known as The Youth Complex ( ar, المجمع الشبابي), is a government owned multi-purpose stadium in the ''Auwqad'' district of Salalah, Oman. It is currently used most ...

located in the Auwqad district of Salalah, the Al-Saada Stadium features seating completely around the field, and does not include a

running track An all-weather running track is a rubberized, artificial running surface for track and field athletics. It provides a consistent surface for competitors to test their athletic ability unencumbered by adverse weather conditions. Historically, v ...

, making the atmosphere more powerful and closer to the action.

Controversy

The stadium has been subject to criticism, especially from influential people in Salalah. Omani

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

, Al-Shabiba has published an article on February 1, 201

about the stadium by writer, Mohammed Al-Rawas pointing out the main issues with the stadium. In it, it states that it has taken much longer than expected for it to finish, no seating whatsoever was installed, and the end result was just not what was expected. The article also mentions no installation of a parking lot. Abdul-Hakim Ba-Mukhalaf, Ali Al-Ra'ood, Nayyif Al-Marhoon, and Dhofar S.C. president, Badr bin Ali Al-Rawas also join writer, Mohammed Al-Rawas in the long article criticizing the construction, planning, and disappointing end-result of the stadium. According to Al-Shabiba's article from February 1, 2010, the stadium was planned to be completely finished in 15 months, but in fact, it has taken nearly 4 years and is still experiencing construction. The leading football Internet forum, forum in the

Arab World The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

Kooora.com
has also been the place of criticism towards the stadium with various members opening threads explaining their disappointment in the outcome. KooooraWaBas has also written an article about the stadium explaining the poor managing and planning of the stadium, lack of giving live feeds of matches, and no match clock installed.http://www.koooorawabas.com/articles.php?mqal=412 KooooraWaBas article on Al-Saada stadium -- No live matches, no match clock!

Tenants

Al-Saada Stadium is the new home to

FC as well as Al-Nasr FC, replacing their old home; the

. The stadium also hosts various teams from Salalah in the second division, as well as

Mirbat Mirbat ( ar, مرباط) is a coastal town in the Dhofar governorate, in southwestern Oman. It was the site of the 1972 Battle of Mirbat between Communist guerrillas on one side and the armed forces of the Sultan of Oman and their Special Air Se ...

Trivia

* The first international friendly between

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

and

was held in 2009 in this stadium. * Location of this stadium is close to the ongoing construction of the new location of the

Dhofar University The Dhofar Governorate ( ar, مُحَافَظَة ظُفَار, Muḥāfaẓat Ẓufār) is the largest of the 11 Governorates in the Sultanate of Oman in terms of area. It lies in Southern Oman, on the eastern border with Yemen's Al Mahrah Go ...

. * Many times the venue is confused with the Salalah Sports Complex when Dhofari clubs play home matches.

Gallery

File:Oman vs KSA Al Saada Stadium August142009 Salalah4life.jpg,

- 12 August 2009

References

External links

Kooora.com reports the Al-Shabiba article from February 1, 2010, about the Al-Saada Stadium

Al-Shabiba article (different source)

Omanet.com info about the stadium

KooooraWaBas article on Al-Saada Stadium
*{{in lang, ar}
Al-Nasr's official website posted pictures of the stadium under construction

Youtube video of Oman vs. K.S.A. spectator POV before match

Stadium pictures

Football venues in Oman Sports venues in Oman