Influence of the Omani Sultan on the National Sports Network

Influence of the Omani Sultan on the National Sports Network

Introduction

The economic and political stability of Sultanate of Oman has been maintained for years. The development and stability in these two sectors of the county has allowed the nation to become a developed one in a short span of time along with establishing an infrastructure needed to be a modern country (AL-Tauqi, 1998). According to AL-Tauqi (1998), after discovery of oil in country in 1964, the increased wealth brought significant changes in Omani sports sector. Sports facilities and organization were built and developed for various major Olympics projects. Despite such developments there are certain Olympics sports that are not yet available in Oman such as gymnastics while some sports are also limited for women of the country, particularly at international level. Sports in Oman took a major in turn after His majesty Sultan Qaboos has been throned. This paper discusses major sports development under the rule of Sultan Qaboos. How his efforts and contributions helped country become a developed one in sports field and how women were included in this field will be discussed in this paper.

Discussion

Nature of Sports in Oman

The Sultanate of Oman is situated on the south eastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. The geography of the country favors practicing different types of sports. The country has different landscapes which consist of sand dunes (82%), mountain (15%) and plains (3%) (Oman, 2007). Research studies have shown that lifestyle of inhabitants of any country are affected by geography of the country, and owing to this fact it also becomes evident that geography also effects sports activities (AL-Shamli, 2008). Geographical conditions of Oman also shaped sports activities of people. The geographical miscellany in sultanate having valleys, longs coasts, mountains and deserts allows people to adopt various physical attributes according to their environment. Along with the geography, weather conditions of the country also affects sports preferences of people for example considering the warm weather of Oman, people begin their outdoor sports activities either after sunset or when the temperatures gets cooler. Nonetheless, similar to the other countries, Oman has also been impacted by the technological advances, Automation and mechanization that have fundamentally decreased the rate of physical activities (WHO, 2004 cited in AL-Shamli, 2008). The Omani coast line is about 1700 km long which provides opportunities for practicing beach sports. Owing to this fact, country has been suggested to consider such kinds of sports and it also hosted the second Asian Beach Games in Muscat in 2010 (Muscat, 2010) which was a great opportunity to establish the culture of beach sports in the country.

Recent History of Sports in Oman

Although, history of sports in Oman can be traced back to many decades but history of organized sports in the country is lacking. The country is aware of different prost activities since its pre-Islamic times when it was under continuous turmoil of civil wars. Owing to the conditions of the region, sports were mainly ...