Al-Mussanah Sports City
Situated 85km north of Muscat and 60km from Muscat International Airport, Al-Mussanah Sports City was designed as a purpose-built venue, capable of hosting Olympic standard events.
Completed in 2010, it played host to the 2nd Asian Beach Games, welcoming more than 5,000 athletes plus officials, media and guests from 45 countries.
Mussanah Sports City is also home to Oman Sail’s second sailing school, which was inaugurated in 2011. Its first international dinghy regatta, Mussanah Race Week, was hosted the same year. This was followed by EFG Sailing Arabia – the Tour, a 15-day race designed to showcase the region.
In 2012, the Sports City hosted the World Beach Handball Championships. The site covers more than one million square metres of the South Batinah coastal region, featuring one kilometre of beach with open access to the sailing area. A key design feature is a 20m-wide slipway leading into a large purpose-built marina. This comes complete with a boatyard, 24-hour security and changing rooms for boat owners and visiting crews.
Around 400 boats can be docked at the Sports City site, which has all the infrastructure and facilities required to host world-class events. Amenities include: a 4-star hotel with four restaurants, athletes’ village with accommodation, a media centre with special conference facilities, studios and internet facilities, extensive parking and storage for trailers and equipment. Between November 2013 and January 2014, Mussanah Sports City hosted the prestigious Laser World Championships comprising three events: Laser Standard Men’s World Championships, Laser Masters’ World Championship and the Laser Radial Youth World Championships.
A Dive Centre, launched by Oman Sail to cater for the growing numbers of divers visiting the Sultanate, is also located in Mussanah Sports City. It runs internationally recognised PADI diving courses and has a dive boat that can accommodate up to 20 divers.