French group Oxylane is planning to open a sporting village in Ireland. The sports group is seeking to acquire a 40-acre site in theDublin area which would offer a number of different sports on a pay-as-you-go basis. Florence Stanley of CBRE has been appointed by the group to source a suitable site.

The group currently has seven villages in France offering everything from beach volleyball to rugby to gymnastics.

The site acquisition is part of a broader move by the group into the Irish market. In what will be a major shake up to the sportswear sector, its Decathlon retail arm will also open in Ireland, beginning with three stores of 40,000 square feet in Dublin. It has already signed up to open a store of that size at Holywood Exchange retail park in Belfast.

Decathlon was set up in 1976 near Lille and sells large amounts of its own clothing, which it designs, produces and markets through 17 different labels, as well as major international brands. It has more than 430 stores in 14 countries including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Brazil, China and Hungary. Last year, it announced that it was working with a company that would use motion-sensing microtechnology in Decathlon's sportswear.

The company had a turnover of just under €5bn in 2008, up 11.1% on the previous year.