Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — President of Youth Welfare Prince Nawaf Bin Faisal Bin Fahd called for hundreds of new district sports centers to be established in various cities of Saudi Arabia to keep children off the streets, encourage youths to avoid anti-social behavior and even help train future Saudi sports stars. Addressing Saudi businessmen and sports figures at the Districts Sports Forum held on Tuesday night at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Prince Nawaf said: “(The centers) will make it possible to get young people involved in sport and make sports and social facilities accessible to the public. “It will also facilitate efforts to scout for talented youngsters with the potential to become champions in the future." He criticized local sport clubs for focusing on only football while ignoring other sports such as basketball, volleyball, swimming, handball and track and field. “Unfortunately, local clubs are considered successful if they win the national football league but I believe a successful sport club offers more variety of sports for youths.” He noted that sport has historically played an important role in all societies and has a unique power to attract, mobilize and inspire. He explained that organized sport programs contribute to reducing youth crime by 70 percent in some parts of the world. He said: “Thus the Presidency of Youth and Welfare will continue its plan to establish more than 50 sport complexes all over the country. “The creation of district sport centers have a major impact on the lives of our youth by getting them to participate daily in a wide range of social and sporting activities.” Meanwhile, Adnan Mandora, secretary general of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, called for new initiatives for youths during the summer. He said: “With the presence of district sport centers, I believe we can consume the time of our youth instead of wasting it. It is our duty to prepare educational and informative programs for them in order to keep them away from the streets.” He said sport has become big business and many a young person's dream is becoming a famed individual sports star or part of a great winning team. Abdullah Al-Ghamdi, head of the sport investment committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, proposed establishing a new federation for district sports centers. The forum recommended establishing more sport centers in various districts of main cities to accommodate millions of young Saudis who do not have a chance to enroll in local sport clubs. It also stressed the importance of sending a powerful message to recent racist chants by soccer fans before it became a more serious threat to Saudi society.
