Dubai Sports City (DSC) will inaugurate tomorrow (April 22) its $100 million, 25,000-seat multipurpose venue with a one day international cricket match between Pakistan and Australia.

The venue will serve as a stadium for international and domestic cricket as well as hosting a significant number of international caliber entertainment events.

“Just three years ago, the founding partners of DSC set out to build one of the world’s best cricket stadiums, and today we have realised that dream,” said U Balasubramaniam, chief executive officer of DSC.

“This stadium, together with the ICC Global Cricket Academy which is located onsite, will serve as a global centre of excellence for cricket,” he added.

“Tomorrow’s match between two of the world’s best sides is further testament to the potential of this facility as a truly international venue for test, one-day international, and Twenty20 cricket matches.”

From its inception, DSC board members set out to build a best-in-class facility, to ICC standards, from the design of its roof structure based on the traditional Arabic tent, to the meticulous detail shown in the construction and maintenance of the pitch which simulates playing conditions on surfaces from three different continents.

The DSC cricket stadium is bowl shaped, providing excellent views from every seat in the ground and simultaneously bringing the spectators closer than ever to the action.

The players’ changing rooms will be among the most luxurious and spacious of any cricket ground in the world. It also features indoor and outdoor pitch-side seating, physiotherapy and massage rooms, a raised lounge with a view of the pitch, locker rooms and dining areas.

Within the media centre there are 82 indoor press seats with cable and wireless internet connection and excellent views of the stadium.

The exceptionally well appointed VVIP and Gold boxes will hold more than 100 people, with 24 luxurious boxes on the lower level adjacent to VVIP and Gold Boxes and 17 high quality corporate boxes looking out on to the pitch from the top level of the venue.

Designed by world-renowned architects Gerkan, Marg, and Partner (GMP) – famous for their work on Berlin Olympic Stadium and Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt – the DSC cricket stadium will boast state-of-the-art facilities for players, match officials, VIPs, spectators, and the media.

DSC’s cricket stadium will be the first of four stadiums to be completed, with a 60,000 capacity multi-purpose stadium for football, track and field, and rugby; a field hockey stadium capable of holding up to 5,000 spectators, and an indoor arena that will house 10,000 supporters for a wide range of sports including basketball, indoor hockey, volleyball, handball, netball and ice hockey.

DSC is a $4 billion, 50 million sq ft mixed-use development, which will be the world’s first integrated purpose-built sports city.  – TradeArabia News Service