The facility, which was designated as a Regional Training Centre in April, aims to advance the abilities of youth athletes from across the country and is part of a goal to develop taekwondo in Saudi Arabia

World Taekwondo President Chungwon Choue presented a certificate of recognition to Hashem Dagestani, who is vice-president of the Mahd Sports Academy, during a formal ceremony.

World Taekwondo secretary general Jeongkang Seo, Para Taekwondo Committee vice-chair Usman Dildar, Saudi Arabian Taekwondo Federation President Shaddad Al-Amri and Mahd Sport Academy operation directors Sultan Al-Anizi also attended the ceremony.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the two parties to facilitate mutual cooperation in research, sport, business and educational activities during the World Taekwondo Grand Prix Final in Saudi Arabia next month.

"It was a pleasure to attend the opening of World Taekwondo’s latest Regional Training Centre in Riyadh," Choue said.

"We have no doubt the Mahd Sports Academy will offer the education and training for future stars of taekwondo to compete at our major competitions."

World Taekwondo’s first Regional Training Centre was designed in Beijing in China in 2008 and other capital cities have followed suit since, including Baku in Azerbaijan, Tashkent in Uzbekistan, Tehran in Iran and Rome in Italy.

Centres have also been assigned in Xuxi and Shenzhen in China, Friedrichshafen in Germany, Manchester in Britain, Muju in South Korea, Rijeka in Croatia and Lalitpur in Nepal.