Rabat, Nov 2 (IANS): Morocco has undertaken a massive programme to provide sporting facilities to its youth in order to wean them away from possible radicalisation.

King Mohammed VI recently inaugurated in Marrakech an indoor semi-Olympic swimming pool and an array of sports fields and sporting fields to provide training opportunities for the youth and boost sports in the north African Kingdom, Morocco's MAP news agency reported.

The two community-based sports projects will provide the youth a place for relaxation and training.

They will also have opportunities to socialize and develop their sporting skills in the best possible conditions of coaching and security. The facilities were built at a cost of 31 million Moroccan dirham.

The swimming pool, which meets international standards in terms of energy efficiency and water saving, offers young people an adequate facility to exercise and enhance their talents.

Likewise, it will contribute to the revitalization of sports associations, and will encourage the emergence of new athletes able to compete nationally and internationally.

This project is part of a program providing for the construction of five community indoor pools in other neighbourhoods.

The other sporting project inaugurated includes 10 artificial turf football fields, race tracks, a children's playground, green areas, a cafeteria, an infirmary, and changing rooms.

Covering a total surface area of 20,000 m2, this project is part of nationwide programme providing for the construction of 832 social and sport complexes.

The programme, worth 600 million Moroccan dirham, will be completed in 36 months. The facilities will be built in rural and Peri-urban communes in the various regions of the Kingdom.