AFC team does a recce of Riyadh facilities

Article posted by Coliseum, November 16^th, 2021

Image: Saudi Projects (LinkedIn)

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC)’s delegation opened its field tours on November 13^th in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) by visiting the facilities of the Saudi 2027 dossier, as part of its visit to the Kingdom to inspect the plans and readiness of its bid to host the 2027 Asian Cup finals.

The ‘Saudi Gazette’ stated that the King Fahd International Stadium was at the forefront of the facilities visited by the AFC delegation, accompanied by the Vice-President of the Saudi 2027 bid Yasser Al-Meshel and two members of the file supervisory committee, Addwa Al-Arefi and Thamer Basnell.

Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) headquartered the Asian Football Confederation is one of the six confederations within FIFA and is the governing body of association football in Asia and Australia. It has 47 member- countries, most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), joined the AFC in 2006.

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The 2027 AFC Asian Cup will be the 19^th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men’s football championship of Asia organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

The 68,752-capacity King Fahd International Stadium, also nicknamed ‘Pearl of Stadiums’ or simply ‘the Pearl’, is a multipurpose stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is currently used mostly for football matches and it also has athletics facilities.

Image: Saudi Projects (LinkedIn)

The Executive Director of the dossier Ibrahim Al-Qasim and two famous former members of the Saudi national team Saleh Al-Naeema and Majed Abdullah too were present.

The ‘Saudi Gazette’ further stated that the team explained King Fahd International Stadium’s features and its renovation plan by increasing its capacity from 58,398 to 80,000 fans, and adding new facilities that give fans and teams an ideal experience on matchday.

The Mrsool Park Stadium was the second stop in the tour of the AFC delegation, which was briefed on the modern and advanced facilities of the stadium, which was opened in 2015 and accommodates 25,000 fans, who were able to enjoy several international sports tournaments that were held in it.

The AFC delegation was also briefed on the security system in the Kingdom, specifically with regard to crowd management during sports competitions, by visiting the 911 emergency center, where the hosts provided an integrated explanation of the Kingdom’s security plans during the tournament if the bid wins hosting 2027 Asian Cup finals.

At Mahd Sports Academy, which is the largest national sports project for the manufacture of champions, the officials of the academy briefed the AFC delegation on the vision and strategy of ‘Mahd’ – to build a new national sports generation that contributes to the growth of sports in general, and football in particular, as the Kingdom makes the development of juniors and youth in various fields as one of its priorities towards achieving the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

Image: Saudi Projects (LinkedIn)

The program of the second day of AFC delegation witnessed an inspection visit of the plans of Saudi 2027 bids, with regard to hospitality and hotel services for all parties to the tournament, including “official delegations, national teams, media, and fans”, as the Kingdom has been witnessing in recent years a remarkable growth and development in this aspect.

The AFC delegation concluded its second day by visiting the ‘Historical Diriyah’, which is the home of the first Saudi State and a historical and cultural landmark for tourists from all over the world. It was named to be one of the landmarks that will host the official and side events of the Asian Cup in the ‘Saudi 2027’ dossier.

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