Construction of a $100 million sports city in Nasiriyah, the capital city of Iraq's Dhi Qar Province, is on track for a mid-2015 completion, according to an official source.
Speaking to Zawya, Karim Dashr, director of the sports and youth in the province, said the development is among a series of sports-related projects being pursued by the country's ministry of sports and youth.
"The sport city project in Dhi Qar is scheduled to be completed in mid-2015. [This was confirmed] following an agreement with Charles Orr groups, a French-German company specializing in urban design and construction. The company has been commissioned to construct the Dhi Qar Olympic stadium," Dashr said.
The stadium boasts a seating capacity that can accommodate around 30,000 spectators. Situated in an 82,000-square-meter land area, the sports city also features two additional stadiums – each can an audience of about 2,500- a swimming pool and a four-star hotel.
Dashr added that the contracting European company followed international best practice standards in building the facility while incorporating traditional concepts such as the Iraqi palm tree in the design.
Dergham Mohammed, an economist and head of the Economic Media Center in Iraq, said the ongoing construction projects in the country reflect a positive step in the government's development initiatives. "They provide a sophisticated urban exposure, which is highly needed considering that existing sports facilities in Iraq are already run-down and overused."
Zawya
4 August
