Asian Beach Games....

Here we are, on the 10th of October, with 59 days to go until the launch of the Muscat Asian Beach Games.

The clock is ticking, and work is well under way at the venues, and I have faith that the facilities will be completed on time for the games - just in time.

But I have learned some rather disturbing pieces of information in recent weeks. There is no way for me to fully verify them and so I'm sure there will be additional pieces of information to this story that may make it more understandable... please do comment.

Have you tried to book a hotel in Muscat during the games? You may find it hard to do so as many hotels have had their rooms block-booked by the Ministry of Tourism. Why have they done this? They did this to accommodate the more than 1500 registered athletes from 45 countries who are due to compete in the games. The nice hotel and apartment building that has been built at the main facility is not going to accommodate any of the athletes - it's all being used by VIP's and sponsors - I guess that makes sense, because then you'd be into a favouritism argument if one team gets accommodation over another team, etc. etc.

In fact, of the 7 athlete accommodation buildings that were planned, only 1 has been built. Of a reported $100,000,000 budget assigned to the MABGOC (Muscat Asian Beach Games Organizing Committee), reportedly over 80% of it has been spent on the hotel and apartment complex that is really being handled by OMRAN (ok that does make some sense because MABGOC would have no experience in construction procurement).

It is certainly food for thought: Why Mussanah? Why re-invent the wheel and focus most efforts on building a hotel and apartment building in the middle of nowhere, when existing facilities within Muscat could have easily been adapted and expanded upon to meet the needs of the games. A hotel could have been built at Mussanah by OMRAN to a 4* standard for a lot less than $80 million.

On another point - have you actually visited the site of the Games? Imagine the traffic nightmare that is bound to happen when people try and attend.... to date I have not seen any modifications to the roads or signage, or the motorway access and egress (a simple round about). I hope the ROP will step in and control the traffic otherwise it'll be the pandemonium that we see in Ghala every day. Traffic issues will be compounded by the fact that the athletes will also have to drive in and out of the venue as well.

It is good that other parts of Oman are benefiting from the Games, but it is unfortunate that the facilities being constructed have left little choice for the athletes but to stay in hotel rooms, which the teams themselves are reportedly expected to pay for themselves (I understand that some rooms will be provided for free by the MABGOC, but not all).

One does have to ask the question: Why do countries bid for and compete to host major sporting events? The answer (among many answers) is to do with promoting tourism to that country, and in this case, getting Oman noticed on the world stage as a future host of other major international events. Oman is a truly unique treasure: It's got golden sandy beaches, mangroves, mountains and desert dunes all within 90 minutes of each other, and lets not even get started on the beautiful areas in the Dhofar region and the interior regions. And yet, many supporters hoping to travel with their countries teams will find it hard to secure a place to stay during the Games.

In general, it does look as if the athletes requirements have perhaps been balanced against getting the hotel and apartments finished at Mussanah. And as for the spectators, well the spectators information section on the official website informs us, "Spectator’s Services information will be made available in the months leading up to the Game" - well seeing that there is less than 2 months to go until the "Game" begins, this website is now out of date.

What do you think about the Asian Beach Games? Will you be attending? Do you think Oman will benefit from this event?

le fin.

Asian Beach Games

The Asian Beach Games is fast approaching - 92 days to go - 3 months. December 8 - 16th will mark the event in what is expected to be a well attended games.

But the questions continue to come.

The official website talks about the Al Musannah Sports City, which amongst other things, will house as Athletes' Village. Take a look at the pictures recently sent to me below.





You can click on them to open up in a larger screen for a clearer view.

The Athlete's Village is supposed to be between where the picture was taken, and the buildings in the distance (serviced apartments, and a 4* hotel). Except....... you got it - there's no athletes accommodation to be seen. 3 months to go, and the work for the athletes accommodation has not even started on site.

Sources tell me that all of the serviced apartments and hotel rooms have been booked out by dignitaries / sponsors of the event. So the people actually playing in the games won't be staying there then either.

So where are these players going to be staying? There's a few rumours flying around:

1/ They will be put up in the Blue City labour camp, 20 minutes down the road. Possibly, I guess. I doubt the teams would be too happy about that.

2/ They will be put up in various hotels in the area. This is a no-go I think - where are the tourists - the very people Oman is hoping to attract by running this event - going to stay? Plus there is politics to consider - what if you put one team in one hotel and another in another hotel of a different standard, or distance to the games... I don't think this option has any credence at all.

3/ Tent city (or portacabin city). I think this is the most probable option, but who knows?

Do you have any observations? Whatever they do, I imagine they're working hard on getting it done!

Don't forget to enter for the prize draw for 1 of 2 pairs of tickets to Dan Zak's concert next Thursday.

le fin.

The Asian Beach Games - an update

For all those who happen to have been wondering about the Beach games project, here's a little update. The construction of the marina is complete (thanks to Carillon) and the structures are coming along (thanks to Larsen & Touboro) as well.




The big question is this: Will they be ready for the December 8th start date? I hazard a guess that it'll be all right on the night, but it's going to be a hairy ride getting there. Completion is slated for October 2010, and with the photo's above, it's a bit hard to tell. The two main accommodation blocks do not appear to have the exterior render works complete yet, and there's no way to tell how far the interiors are progressing. Time will tell, it's not good news that Ramadan is fast approaching, either (by that I mean, traditionally productivity falls dramatically during the Holy month).

I did read with some amusement on the official Muscat 2010 website that Al-Musannah Sports City (city?!) is expecting to cater to 50,000 spectators over the course of the event. I hope they get those kind of numbers, I really do. I've got some questions though:

2000 athletes are expected to be participating in the games - where will they be staying? The two major structures do not look like they could adequately house all of the athletes, and I have not heard any news on the development of the "Athletes village". Has it been scrapped in favour of a tent city? I'm told that all of the hotel rooms and apartments in the two buildings have already been booked out for various people (not athletes though) - so it is an interesting situation.

How is the venue going to be powered? By the national grid? It's possible I guess, the heat will not be bad in December, meaning lower A/C usage. I wonder if there will be a Generator farm?

How are the games to be attended? I understand that this will be a free event with no cost for tickets per-se, but when will we see the schedule? I imagine the women's beach volleyball games will be well attended :) It's one thing for us here in Muscat to decide to nip up the road on the weekend to go and laugh at watch teams play Kabaddi, it's entirely something different for supporters from other countries who are attempting to arrange trips to come and support their teams.

Do you intend to visit the Games in December?

le fin.

The Asian Beach Games - 2010

As I'm sure most of you know, Oman will be hosting the Asian Beach Games in Wudam Al Sahil near Mussanah (yet, rather strangely, the games are being advertised as Muscat 2010). The site is about an hour and a half drive away from Qurum, so it really is a bit of a stretch to say the games are being held in Muscat. However, after seeing the progress at the construction site, one has the question: Will this even be ready by June next year? I say June, because the official website from the Ministry of Tourism states that the athletes village will be completed by June 2010. Well, judging from the picture below, I'd say that the incumbent Contractor (L&T) had better accelerate it's work, or there very well maybe egg on some peoples faces.


From the picture, you can see that the breakwater has been completed (Carillion Alawi are to thank for that). The rather alarming lack of Command Centre (the Press area), Marina Hotel and Marina Residences building, coupled with the fact that it is August 2009, does suggest that the intended completion date of June 2010 might be hard to achieve. But not impossible. Maybe.


This other smaller picture is an elevation of what the site is intended to look like. I think either the Marina Hotel or Marina Residences building has commenced, because in the first picture you can see a little suggestion of work in the bottom left hand corner.

Well let's hope that L&T wake up and get their finger out and start to actually get this project built. I remain positive that something will be ready, just perhaps not what was originally envisaged.

The other point of note is that the games are scheduled to be held in December 2010 (source) and I'm sure that with those extra months, a lot of finishing touches will be completed.

Speaking of sporting events, has everyone got their F1 tickets for the Abu Dhabu grand prix on November 1st?