The Syrian authorities plan to complete the reconstruction of the largest sports complex in the country and one of the largest in the Middle East in two years. This was announced by the director of the center Ayham Tuhelya.
According to him, the Hafez al-Assad sports complex in Latakia province served as a camp for 30,000 refugees during the war. The sports complex covers an area of 156 hectares, 56 hectares – the area of covered premises, 100 hectares – open-air structures. The main football arena is designed for 45 thousand spectators. The complex also includes three indoor gyms for basketball, handball and volleyball, two multifunctional halls for Olympic disciplines, four swimming pools, four tennis courts, and a hippodrome.
The main football arena has already been restored. Now the reconstruction of the sports and concert hall is underway, where before the war they held competitions in boxing, volleyball, basketball and other sports, as well as organized the cultural festival “Love and Peace” with concert programs. The territory of the park is also being improved, where the alley of the Syrian-Russian friendship was planted.
“The reconstruction is carried out at the expense of the state budget. The state has signed a contract with contractors, for each object a firm is assigned, which is responsible for the quality and timing of repairs. All workers are professionals. In two years, we expect to complete the reconstruction of the sports complex and hope that it will work in full force, as before the war, ”said Tuhelya.
The director of the sports complex said that during the war, refugees from Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor were placed on sports grounds, all the flooring fell into disrepair.
The Hafez al-Assad Sports Center – the father of the current Syrian President Bashar al-Assad – was built in 1987 and became the site for the X Mediterranean Games. In 2018, the state allocated the necessary funds for a large-scale renovation program, which also includes the creation of a recreational zone, the construction of a new tourist complex and the demolition of an old hotel.
On April 12, Russian specialists began restoring the Arc de Triomphe in Syrian Palmyra, familiar to every student from the fifth grade textbook “History of the Ancient World”. In August 2015, militants destroyed this iconic symbol of the city with an explosion.