Zayed Sport City Needed a Security System

To protect 1.7 million visiting sports fans each year, Zayed Sport City – the largest sports complex in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – has deployed a site-wide security system from Hikvision. Incorporating more than 670 integrated cameras, the solution reduces workloads and costs with cool AI features, while also providing high-resolution imaging to boost security across the site.
The need for high-resolution and automatic video security had been recognized at Zayed Sport City, which has been named the UAE’s number one sports destination and welcomes more than 1.7 million sports fans each year. The site incorporates a stadium, ice rink, bowling center, tennis center and a range of other sports facilities. With such large numbers of people moving around the site, there is always a chance that accidents and other incidents could occur – potentially putting visitors to the complex at risk.
The key to preventing accidents and keeping sports fans safe is to effectively keep track of all areas of the complex during sports events, and to respond quickly if anything goes wrong. But with many hundreds of cameras needed to provide full coverage of the site, the resulting video streams are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to be processed manually.
As an additional challenge, the sports venues and facilities need to keep an eye on very large spaces, often with very high ceilings. This means that high-resolution security cameras are needed to provide clear imaging at significant distances, with cameras often mounted high up on pillars, posts, or ceilings.

Multifunctional Operation

To address these challenges, Zayed Sport City needed a security and safety system that could protect all areas of the site – without the excessive workloads associated with manual approaches. The chosen solution is a multi-functional, stadium-wide security system from Hikvision. This incorporates all the cameras and control room equipment needed to protect the site, 24 hours a day. The solution incorporates around 670 Hikvision cameras with different functions and types that were deployed during two major project phases. These are being used to protect all of the sports venues and facilities inside the Zayed Sport City, as well as spectator seating areas and parking areas.
Besides offering high-definition imaging (with 2 and 4-megapixel resolution across the Hikvision bullet and PTZ camera palette), selected Hikvision cameras also offer on-board AI capabilities to automate key security tasks. One example of this is license-plate recognition (ANPR) technology built into cameras in the stadium parking areas, which are increasing security and supporting efficient parking operations. AI capabilities also allow the security team to search back through video footage much more quickly and easily when investigating accidents and incidents.

VMS Integration

All Hikvision cameras have been integrated into the Zayed Sport City Video Management System, ensuring that all elements of the solution work in harmony to protect visitors to the stadium.
This brings improved safety, efficiency and scalability for site security management, while many routine security tasks can be handled automatically, reducing the risk of missed incidents, speeding up responses, and reducing staff workloads and costs. Khalid Al Mutawa, Director of Operations for Abu Dhabi Entertainment Company, the company that manages and operates Zayed Sport City, says, “Streamlining our processes with this system has allowed us to work more efficiently. The automated security alerts and the HD Video help us to respond quickly and work with peace of mind. It was critical for us that cameras and other equipment deployed in phase 1 and phase 2 would integrate easily with our currently used VMS, with no compatibility issues. Hikvision offered a fast and easy solution, and full coverage of the site was installed on time.”

Increased Operating Efficiency

With the ability to search through video footage quickly and easily to investigate accidents and incidents, the security team is achieving major time savings compared to reviewing video manually. “The Hikvision system’s AI features are very valuable in investigating incidents and it reduces the time required by our staff significantly” says Khalid Al Mutawa. “This frees our security team up for our core activity: keeping visitors safe and ensuring that the complex is secure at all times.”
The fact that the cameras use onboard AI capabilities has made it cost-effective for Zayed Sport City to deploy the latest security technologies quickly, across the entire site. Additionally, new AI capabilities – such as the ability to locate and help unaccompanied minors or to count people to prevent crowding – can be added cost-effectively in the future, with no need to replace existing control room equipment or software.