LAHORE, Oct 31: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif will inaugurate the newly-constructed hockey stadium at Johar Town on Thursday (today) while an exhibition hockey match between Pakistan Whites and Greens will mark the formal opening of the 1,500-capacity venue.

The stadium has been built at a cost of Rs139 million on 24 kanals. All facilities and infrastructure, including green synthetic turf, floodlights and 1,500 thermo plastic chairs, changing rooms, a meeting room, a conference hall, a central lobby, a kitchen, a podium, a store and toilets, required for holding international matches have been provided at the stadium. Besides, the stadium has the parking facility for 132 cars.

Olympian Akhtar Rasool has been named as chairman of the managing committee of the stadium while its two members are the Sports Board Punjab director-general and the LDA director-general. The name of the stadium is suggested as Mian Muhammad Sharif Hockey Stadium, the late father of Nawaz and Shahbaz.

Addressing a press conference at the National Hockey Stadium, Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhood said last year when several venues and grounds were cleaned to prevent the dengue attack, the Punjab government and the SBP had identified around 4,500 grounds in the province and similarly several places were also spotted in Lahore.

“It was the vision of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to develop sports facilities in the province and the establishment of the state-of the-art hockey stadium at Johar Town is part of the plan,” he said.

Also the chief organiser of the Punjab Youth Festival, Mr Mashhood said: “After conducting first six phases of the Punjab Youth Festival and Guinness World Records, we are moving a step ahead.”

“Akhtar Rasool has been appointed as head of the managing committee of the stadium where the camp training of the national hockey team for Champions Trophy is also going to be conducted after its inauguration,” he added.

He said a committee had been formed which would give recommendation for the name of the stadium. Mr Mashhood said the Punjab government was ready to provide all possible support to the Pakistan Cricket Board to hold international cricket matches in the province.

Akhtar Rasool thanked Shahbaz for taking special interest in developing a new hockey venue having all modern facilities.He said the country needed more such stadiums as the game of hockey had been the lone medal-earning hope for the nation at the Olympics.

He said the stadium would prove helpful in promoting hockey in Lahore and he would try his best to turn it as one of the best venues in the country with the support of the Punjab government.