UAE-based Duplays, an organiser of private sports tournaments, will join hands with top Saudi developer Al Hokair Group to break ground on the first of its three privately owned football sports complexes in Jeddah.

Besides Jeddah, the duo will be setting up similar pilot projects in the capital Riyadh and in the Eastern Province, the Arab News reported.

The 100,000-sq-ft Duplays Dome will contain about 60,000 sq ft of outdoor, ‘small-format’ pitches typically used for games of 5-a-side up to 8-a-side football, but which can be converted for bigger, 11-a-side games.

There is also 40,000 sq ft of climate-controlled space containing indoor courts that can be used for football, or for other games such as basketball and badminton, as well as a clubhouse, showers and changing facilities, stated the report, citing Duplays co-founder Ravi Bhusari.

Duplays, which organises corporate and private sports tournaments across the UAE, said the complexes have been modelled on the ‘soccer centres’ concept developed in the UK by companies such as Goals and PowerLeague.

“The type of construction we are using is a modular construction and they are quick build facilities,” Bhusari said.

The first centre in northern Jeddah will be ready by the end of the year, he added.