Muscat – The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth (MCSY) has unveiled a national programme to identify and develop young athletes as part of a long-term strategy to strengthen the country’s sports sector and improve its competitiveness at international events.

The National Programme for Discovering and Developing Talented Athletes was announced during a media briefing organised by the ministry on Sunday, where officials outlined achievements, future projects and sector targets linked to Oman Vision 2040.

H E Sayyid Saud bin Hilal Al Busaidi, Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, said the programme aims to establish a sustainable system for sporting excellence through early talent identification, scientific training methods and continuous performance assessment.

“The culture, sports and youth sectors represent an integrated national system for building people, strengthening Omani identity and empowering youth,” he said.

According to the ministry, the initiative will connect the education and sports sectors to help prepare a generation capable of competing internationally while supporting stronger institutional partnerships and wider community participation in sports.

Officials said the programme will be implemented in three phases extending until 2035. The first phase until 2026 will focus on establishing the programme framework and talent identification systems, while the second phase from 2026 to 2030 will target expansion and activation. The final phase, extending to 2035, will focus on sustainability and long-term athlete development. The programme will include specialised supervisory committees, talent discovery centres across governorates and digital systems to monitor athlete performance.

The ministry also announced plans to strengthen professional standards in sports administration and athlete development, alongside efforts to attract major international sporting events to Oman.

During the briefing, officials revealed that the ministry organised 687 activities and events across the sultanate over the past year, benefiting 105,376 people across the culture, sports and youth sectors.

The sports sector accounted for 298 activities attracting 57,423 participants, while 242 cultural activities benefited 27,256 people. A further 147 youth programmes reached 20,697 participants across governorates.

H E Sayyid Saud said the ministry’s plans focus on expanding services across governorates, improving infrastructure and increasing the social impact of programmes in line with Oman Vision 2040.

He also highlighted Oman’s growing international engagement, noting that the ministry signed around 15 memoranda of understanding and nine executive programmes between 2022 and 2025 in the fields of culture, sports and youth.

At the same briefing, H E Sayyid Said bin Sultan Al Busaidi, Undersecretary for Culture in MCSY, said Oman’s Cultural Strategy 2021-2040 is based on seven pillars aimed at strengthening creativity, preserving national identity and expanding cultural development.

He added that construction work at the Sayyid Tarik bin Taimur Cultural Complex has reached 53% completion.

The ministry also announced plans to establish a dedicated department to support talented individuals in cultural and artistic fields as part of efforts to strengthen Oman’s creative sector.