Saudi Aramco has invited contractors to bid by 14 April for the contract to build a 60,000 seat stadium at its King Abdullah Sports City development near Jeddah.

Aramco will hold an explanation meeting for bidders in London on 24 January ahead of a site visit in Jeddah on 31 January.

The prospective bidders for the contract include:

• Bouygues (France)
• Interbeton (Netherlands)/Besix (Belgium)
• Hyundai Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• Laing O’Rourke (UK)
• Max Boegl (Germany)
• Samsung C&T (South Korea)
• Saudi Oger (local)

Associated packages on the project includes an indoor arena, grand mosque and outdoor athletics stadium, sports academy, sports medical centre, residential complex for athletes, outdoor football pitches, aquatic centre, women’s sports complex, and a railway station (MEED 17:9:10).

UK-based Arup is the consultant on the scheme.

The project client, Saudi Aramco, declined to comment on the status of the construction contracts.

When King Abdullah Sports City was approved by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud in February 2009, it included a 100,000 seat stadium and was given a budget of $4bn. It will cover an area of 9 square-kilometres some 60km north of Jeddah alongside the Mecca-Medina highway.

Aramco was given the task of developing the scheme on behalf of the government in 2009. In 2010, it tendered road building and enabling works for the project. The enabling works involves earthworks such as general site levelling and preparation. The 10-month road contract involves the construction of two interchanges and a perimeter road.

The King Abdullah Sports City stadium follows the tender for a major new football stadium in Abu Dhabi last year. Five contractors submitted bids for estimated $1.36m construction contract in May, and five months later, the client, government-owned Mubadala Development Company, informed bidders that the project was on hold due to a decision by the government.

Another nine new stadiums will be built in Qatar, which in December was selected by world football’s governing authority Fifa to host the World Cup in 2022.