T he team behind the World Record-breaking Kingdom Arena pitch , SIS Pitches , has shared its ambitious long-term plans to expand into Saudi Arabia and the Middle East .
SPORTS PITCHES
Global sports pitches leader announces Saudi Arabia ambitions
T he team behind the World Record-breaking Kingdom Arena pitch , SIS Pitches , has shared its ambitious long-term plans to expand into Saudi Arabia and the Middle East .
SIS Pitches , which produces premium hybrid , synthetic and natural pitches for an array of sports , including football , rugby , golf , tennis and cricket , made its first foray in the Middle East in 2011 in Dubai UAE .
Recognising a growing appetite for high-level professional sports , and the growing need for cutting edge surfaces , the sports surface specialist established a Saudi Arabia office in July last year . Within weeks , they undertook one of the world ’ s most ambitious sporting infrastructure projects to complete the Kingdom Arena – the world ’ s first fully indoor hybrid pitch , famously built in just 21 days – in partnership with Sela .
So far , SIS Pitches has invested more than 1.3M SAR ($ 370,000 ) into the region – with Saudi Arabia now firmly established as a country key to the business ’ s long-term plans .
The company has opened three maintenance depots across the country in Tabuk , Jeddah and Riyadh , all designed to cater to local professional teams , including Neom FC , Al Ahli-FC and Al- Hilal FC . Those will also enable SIS Pitches to undertake major maintenance and pitch care projects in the Kingdom , which have previously included the Italian and Spanish Super Cups at King Fahd Stadium and Al-Awwal Park .
Additionally , two new turf farms have opened in Saudi Arabia and Turkey , joining the already established UAE site , to grow high-resilience turf , guaranteeing efficient costs and turf health to support major projects in the region . This includes high-level pitches and surfaces for a range of sports – from rugby and football to equestrian sports and cricket – as well as commercial landscaping .
The current team , which is 40 people strong , is also expected to grow to 60 people in the next year .
88 GroundskeepingJournal . co . uk | September / October 2024