The Dubai Sports Complex, currently under construction and due for completion after the summer, will provide a spectacular venue for the Championships. With a capacity of close to 10,000 for this competition, the main arena has a horseshoe-shaped seating bowl. The size of the overall project is an impressive 24 hectares with the building itself occupying 56,031 square metres.

“The Dubai Sports Complex is set to become a wonderful state-of-the-art venue and I have no doubt that Dubai will host an extremely successful Championships this December,” said Mr. Marculescu after the site visit.

“The building has progressed very well in the last few months and I look forward to seeing some great swimming here at the end of the year,” he added.

Dr. Julio C. Maglione, Mr. Barelli and Marculescu visited the complex along with the Championships Director– Obaid Salim Al-Shamsi and Chief Operating Officer of the Dubai 2010 Organising Committee – Lynne Bates, who also expressed their appreciation of the latest developments on the venue.


FINA Delegation visits the Dubai Sports Complex

“Hosting an event of this magnitude is a great achievement for Dubai, which in recent years has become a hub of international sports. The Dubai Sports Complex is already shaping into a truly magnificent venue and we are looking forward to showing it to the world in December,” said Mr. Al-Shamsi.

Following the visit to the new venue, the FINA delegation met with the LOC to discuss preparations for the Championships, which will see swimmers from over 120 countries converging on Dubai in seven months’ time.

Dubai, and the United Arab Emirates, have already successfully hosted numerous international sporting events including the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, the Dubai Desert Classic golf championships, the richest horse race in the world – the Dubai World Cup and the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Abu Dhabi also recently played host to the prestigious Laureus Awards ceremony, where Italy’s Frederica Pellegrini and German sprinter Britta Steffen (both swimmers) were among the nominees for World Sportswoman of the Year, and inspirational South African Natalie du Toit (open water swimming) claimed the title of Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability.

Dubai Sports Complex: the venue for the championships is near completion