| Al-Saada Stadium/Al-Saada Sports Complex استاد السعادة\مجمع السعادة الرياضي |
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|---|---|
| An artist's depiction of the Al-Saada Stadium | |
| Location | Al-Saada, Salalah, Oman |
| Broke ground | April 25, 2006 |
| Opened | July 23, 2009 |
| Renovated | (Under some renovation) |
| Owner | Government |
| Operator | Ministry of Sports Affairs |
| Surface | Grass |
| Capacity | 12,000 |
| Field dimensions | ? |
| Tenants | |
| Dhofar Al-Nasr |
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Al-Saada Stadium (Arabic: أستاد السعادة), also known as Al-Saada Sports Complex (Arabic: مجمع السعادة الرياضي) is a government owned multi-use stadium in the Al-Saada district of Salalah, Oman. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Dhofar, as well as Al-Nasr. The stadium has a capacity of an estimated 12,000 people, and despite being used for matches, the stadium is still featuring some construction outside.
Unlike the Salalah Sports Complex located in the Auwqad district of Salalah, the Al-Saada Stadium features seating completely around the field, and does not include a running track, making the atmosphere more powerful and closer to the action.[1]
There is also a hockey field, tennis court, olympic swimming pool, and a indoor volleyball/basketball stadium included in the walls of the Al-Saada Sport Complex apart from the football stadium.
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The stadium has been subject to criticism, especially from influential people in Salalah. Omani newspaper, Al-Shabiba has published an article on February 1, 2010 [1] 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 forum in the Arab World, Kooora.com has also been the place of criticism towards the stadium with various members opening threads explaining their disappointment in the outcome.[2]
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.[3]
The Al-Saada Stadium is the new homes to Oman giants, Dhofar, as well as giants, Al-Nasr, replacing their old home; the Salalah Sports Complex in the outskirts of Salalah, in the Auwqad district. The stadium also host various teams from Salalah in the second division, as well as Mirbat.