Qatar’s World Cup organising committee has invited architects to submit designs for the tournament’s flagship Lusail stadium in mid-May.

It is understood that about four leading international design firms will submit proposals for the stadium, which will be used for the World Cup final in 2022.

The design competition will replace an earlier tender that the committee decided to scrap because the designs for the 80,000 seat stadium did not adequately reflect Qatari design and culture.

To ensure the fresh design meets expectations, architects will attend workshops with the committee ahead of the mid-May deadline.

Doha had initially planned to spend $4bn on building nine new stadiums and expanding its existing Al-Rayyan, and Al-Gharafa stadiums as well as Khalifa Stadium for the tournament. However, the organising committee remains undecided as to the exact number of stadiums that it will build for the tournament, according to media reports this week.

In March, MEED reported that contractors were becoming frustrated with the slow pace of contract awards for the stadium projects and the lack of clarity on the number of stadiums that will be built.

Earlier this month, Qatar awarded the first World Cup stadium construction contract to a joint venture of Belgium’s Six Construct and the local Midmac Contracting Company.

The estimated $300m contract involves upgrading the existing Khalifa Stadium and increasing the seating capacity of the stadium to 60,000, from the current 45,000. The 24-month contract will also include the renovation of the museum at the surrounding Khalifa Sports City.