Cambodia’s mega stadium to go online in 2021

• 24 May 2017
• Local News
• 3747 Views

Some facilities of the Morodok Techo National Sports Complex are already operational with the main stadium aiming to be fully completed in 2021, two years before the nation hosts the 32nd SEA Games.

Inaugurated by Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen on 4 April, facilities already completed include the international standard swimming centre and the indoor competition center. The swimming center alone is equipped with a warm up pool, a competition pool, and a diving pool with a total capacity of 3,000 spectators. The indoor stadium will be used for volleyball, basketball, football, tennis among others and can accommodate 6,000 spectators. The 4 April inauguration also signaled commencement on the construction of the main stadium with a capacity of 60,000 visitors and equipped with an international standard emergency exit system. Costing around USD157 million the facility is being financed by a grant from the Chinese government which is claimed to be the largest ever interest-free grant China has ever provided to foreign country.

The prime minister said that he selected the project’s architectural master plan himself with the stadium’s boat shape representing the long-lasting friendship between Cambodia and China. The complex’s original plan was designed by Cambodian firm, L.C.T Architecture Group Co. Ltd though there is no indication as to whether the master plan was adjusted by the Chinese contractors.

Work on the nation’s biggest sports complex began in April 2013 on an 85-hectare landmass inside Garden City, a 1067-hectare satellite city developed by L.Y.P Group located in Russei Keo district, about 15km north of central Phnom Penh. It is intended to be at the heart of Cambodia’s hosting of the SEA Games in 2023 as well as other local and international sports events. Construction of the complex has been divided into three main phases with an estimated total budget of between USD100 million to USD300 million. Phase 1(2013-2016), costing USD39 million was solely financed by the Cambodian government and built by the local firm L.Y.P. Group that owns the land. At the Cambodian prime minister’s request, China pledged the funds for the 2nd stage of construction (2016 to 2020) costing USD157 million and which was built by Chinese firms. Scheduled to be completed in 2021, the prime minister also appealed to China to help finance the stadium’s final stage, saying that, “We have not had the source of funding yet and I hope that China will fill in any shortcoming we may face.”

According to H.E. Thong Khon, President of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC), countries in the region are taking turns to host the games every two years in alphabetical order. Cambodia failed to do so in the 1960s through to the 1990s and again in the 2000s, with the prime minister explaining that this was due to the government needing to prioritise other sectors.
Cambodia will now have two large-scale National Stadiums; the Morodok Techo National Sports Complex and the National Olympic Sports Complex. Sport facilities also exist in Kampong Cham and Kampot, which are included in the overall sport infrastructure to host the SEA Games in 2023.
Samdech Prime Minister Hun Sen also presided at the annual dinner party for over 3,000 athletes of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia on 4 April.