Abu Dhabi is planning to build an 'Olympic' stadium at Mina Zayed on Abu Dhabi island, according to sources involved with the scheme.

The developer, government-controlled Mubadala Development Company, declined to comment on the project. A spokesman for Abu Dhabi Sports Council says it is not involved in the scheme.

Stadiums built for recent Olympic Games and for the 2012 London Olympics are capable of seating more than 70,000 people, with a grass pitch and a 400-metre long running track. It is not yet clear what size stadium Mubadala has commissioned.

Mubadala is developing the stadium through John Buck International, a joint venture with the US' The John Buck Company. "Mubadala and John Buck are doing an Olympic stadium; it is a big project," says one source.

"Yes, there is a stadium planned," says another source.

"It will be next to the new media city in the Mina Zayed area."

Few other details of the project are available. Mubadala declined to say whether Abu Dhabi will use the stadium to mount an Olympic bid.

Four cities - Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo - are shortlisted for the 2016 Olympic games and bidding for the 2020 games will not start until after the London Olympics in 2012.

The new stadium could also be used to host the Asian games. The Chinese city of Guangzhou will host the 2010 Asian Games, which Doha hosted in 2006, and Incheon in South Korea will host the 2014 games.

Mubadala and John Buck are also working on a 65,000-capacity football stadium in the Khalifa City area close to Abu Dhabi International airport and the planned Capital City District.

Work has already started on the foundations for the football stadium. Contractors expect Mubadala to issue a tender for the main construction works by the end of this year (MEED 20:3:09).

When it is finished, the Olympic stadium will be a landmark in the Mina Zayed area, which will be redeveloped once Abu Dhabi's major commercial port relocates to Khalifa Port & Industrial Zone in Taweelah.

The new stadium will benefit from the proximity of Abu Dhabi's new media zone, which will be built alongside the stadium.

Abu Dhabi is developing the media cluster, which is known as TwoFour54, to attract leading international broadcasters and media companies.

TwoFour54 will include office buildings, production and broadcast studios, a hotel, serviced apartments, residential units, retail space and parking.

Mubadala is developing several other leisure and entertainment projects that will support the sports stadium as part of its Mina Zayed Waterfront district, an extension to the eastern end of Abu Dhabi's Corniche.