A "major" contract has been signed regarding the establishment of sports facilities in the Maldives.

The Maldivian government signed a USD 40 million Line of Credit with the EXIM Bank of India for the development of sports infrastructure across the country, on Thursday.

The Line of Credit was first offered to the Maldives during the Minister of External Affairs of India, Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar’s visit to the island nation back in February 2021.

The government of neighboring India recognizes the priority President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has been giving to sports and is "honored" to be a partner in his efforts.

This credit-line is to mainly be used for the establishment of different stadiums and sports complexes within the Maldives that cater football, athletics, badminton, tennis, table-tennis and a range of indoor sports. Furthermore, the grant paves way for Maldives to host the Indian Ocean Island Games.

The Indian government revealed that one of their main focus in relations with the Maldivian government is on people-to-people relationship and strengthening it.

As such, sports cooperation is a promising area of cooperation in the ties enjoyed between both countries.

During former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's visit to Maldives in March 2019, the government of Maldives requested to construct a cricket stadium, to which India readily paved way.

The Cricket Stadium project in Hulhumalé, currently in the tendering process, was one of the first projects to be included under the USD 800 million Line of Credit extended to the Maldives.

Further, during President Solih's trip to India in 2019, he attended an Indian Premier League (IPL) match in Bengaluru where he grew fond of progressing the sport in the Maldives. Following this, a plan was put into effect through which training camps were held for Maldivian cricket umpires and coaches. Under the training programme, Maldives National Men’s and Women’s cricket teams will attend a month-long training camp at the premier Centre for Sports Science in Chennai, India.

Further, both government reached a bilateral MoU on cooperation in Sports and Youth Affairs to provide an institutional framework for our ongoing cooperation in the field of sports.

Development of sports is an important part of India’s development assistance to the Maldives. Currently outdoor gyms are being set up in a total of 61 islands in the Maldives under India’s MVR 200 million grant assistance and it is to be noted that the Ekuveni ground track was also developed under this grant.

While a lot of projects are underway in the Maldives in the field of sports, the works of the Ekuveni Running Track being transformed into a synthetic track, the development of the swimming track and the Hulhumalé Sports Complex are to be recognized. Furthermore, as the incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s government is working to establish more sports facilities, it is to be noted that the current administration has concluded most projects in the field of sports.