(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) The chairman of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), Francesco Ricci Bitti, has called upon Oman to build indoor courts in its bid to give the sport a boost.
At present, Oman doesn't have a single indoor court. There are several multi-sports complexes in the country, but none of them have a tennis facility.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday during a visit to Muscat, Bitti said, ''Tennis is a sport of continuity that is played throughout the year. A country like Oman should have indoor courts as it witnesses extreme summer temperatures.''
Bitti praised the ‘young and committed' board of directors at the Oman Tennis Association (OTA), led by its chairman Mutassim al Zadjali, for trying to uplift the standard of tennis in the sultanate.
The ITF chief believes Oman is the 'best place' in the GCC to develop tennis at the grassroot level.
''Having visited Qatar and UAE before coming here, I found that though they both host a lot of world-class tournaments, very little benefits are passed down to the grassroot level. Those top-class tournaments are successful business models, but there is a disconnect with development at the grassroot level,'' he said.
Bitti added that the ITF is ready to support the OTA in its bid to develop tennis in Oman, but much of the responsibility lies on the OTA itself, which should seek the Asian Tennis Federation's support regarding development programmes.
The ITF chief pointed out that development of tennis involves 'three Cs - courts, coaching and competitions', adding that the OTA should focus on promoting the sport in the country rather than just hold international tournaments.
''To start with, Oman could hire good coaches from abroad, but the emphasis should be to train local coaches, who can train Omani tennis players in the future,'' said Bitti.
Following Bitti's interaction with the media at the Oman Olympic Committee's (OOC) meeting hall, Zadjali and OOC general secretary Taha al Kishry presented him with mementos.
Bitti concerned about 2016 Rio preparations:
As if concerns over delay in preparations for the football World Cup in Brazil were just not enough, there are now worries over Rio de Janeiro's preparations for the 2016 Olympics, according to Bitti.
Bitti, who is the chairman of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF), said, ''As a member of the coordination commission of the IOC and as the ASOIF chief, I am definitely concerned [about Rio's preparations]. There is still a lot to be done.''
He added, ''There are delays in construction and other problems that we are concerned about. We hope to encourage the organisers and the [Brazilian] government to work together to make sure the first Olympics in South America is held successfully.''
Asked whether a country in the Gulf region could someday host the Olympic Games, Bitti said, ''I think so, sooner or later it may happen. But there are many contradictions to the universality of the Olympics. There is need to resize the whole programme. We need to work on limiting the size of the Games."
''I believe that except for the three core events - athletics, swimming and gymnastics - there could be ways to limit the volume of participation, either by cutting down on the number of categories in certain sports or through other ways. We need to find a way out as Olympics should have only the cream of athletes and spo
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