Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Development Company will tender a contract to build the Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed stadium in 2010.

According to a source working on the sports stadium, Mubadala will issue tender documents once it has a design for the building. The stadium will be built in Khalifa City between Mussafah and Abu Dhabi International airport.

Mubadala has yet to reveal details of the project, but construction contractors expect the developer to ask for a stadium with seating capacity for 60,000 people and that can host major football games and other sporting events (MEED 11:7:09).

According to sources working on the project, it is understood Mubadala would tender the contract during the summer of 2009 (MEED 20:3:09).

During 2008, Mubadala held talks with German contractor Ed Zueblin to design and build the stadium. However, the discussions failed to result in a contract award, although Zueblin did complete piling and enabling works.

UK-based Mott MacDonald is the project manager and UK firm Arup is the lead consultant.

The UAE is promoting itself as a venue for major sporting events. Abu Dhabi will host football’s Fifa Club World Cup in December. In early November, the emirate hosted its first Formula One race.