LAHORE: National Hockey Stadium, which is the largest stadium in the world with a capacity of 45,000, is set to open after the installation of AstroTurf was completed, sources reported on Sunday.
The process of laying the turf was started last year and has now been completed.
A total of around Rs180 million were spent on the stadium. The AstroTurf was worth Rs120 million while the rest was spent to upgrade the stadium.
The Punjab Sports Department wanted ex-Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to inaugurate the stadium in the first week of August but that could not happen due to his involvement in different political matters.
And now, the government’s tenure has ended and a caretaker setup is handling the matters of the state.
It must be noted that in August last year, the Astroturf of the National Hockey Stadium Lahore was removed for a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) public gathering, and the Punjab government announced that a new modern turf would be installed at the venue.
Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) was granted hosting rights of FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers for the first time in history in July.
FIH also confirmed that Pakistan will host men’s qualifiers from January 13 to 21 next year. Pakistan are lined up with China and Spain who are the other two countries to host the men’s and women’s events.
The matches in Pakistan are likely to be held at the National Hockey Stadium.
