Saudi Arabia's Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC) has announced the establishment of a new stadium at Qiddiya City in Saudi Arabia.

The stadium, named Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium will be built on top of a 200m-high Tuwaiq cliff located in the new sports and entertainment district of Qiddiya city.

The stadium will have the capacity to accommodate 45,000 spectators and will feature a fully combined retractable pitch, roof and LED wall.

The stadium is one of the proposed venues for the Kingdom’s 2034 FIFA World Cup bid and will host events including the Saudi King Cup, the Asian Cup and the 2034 Asian Games. ​

Once completed, the stadium will serve as the home ground for Saudi Pro League football clubs Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal.

In December, MEED exclusively reported that QIC invited companies to bid for the main contract to build the stadium at its entertainment city project on the outskirts of Riyadh.

The tender, which will be conducted in two stages, was issued in November and the last date for submitting initial bids was 19 December.

Bidders will then work with the project team towards signing a final contract. The companies that have been invited to bid include:

• FCC (Spain)
• Bouygues (France)
• Samsung C&T (South Korea)
• Nesma & Partners (local)
• El-Seif Engineering Contracting (local)
• Almabani (local)
• Albawani (local)

US-based architect Populous is the project consultant.

The estimated $315m contract covers constructing a multi-purpose stadium in the sports and entertainment district of Qiddiya City outside of Riyadh.

Work on the Qiddiya sports complex also includes the construction of an e-games arena, a multi-sports hub, two golf courses, training facilities and an aquatic centre.

The stadium is expected to be ready by the end of 2026, in time for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia was effectively confirmed as the host for football’s 2034 Fifa World Cup in October after the only other potential bidder for the tournament withdrew from the race. 

In December, MEED exclusively reported that QIC had appointed a joint venture of the local El-Seif Engineering Contracting and Beijing-based China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) for the estimated SR2bn ($533m) contract to build the e-games arena at Qiddiya City.

Qiddiya projects

QIC is gearing up to deliver several other components of Qiddiya Entertainment City. 

In October, MEED revealed that QIC had selected a joint venture of local contractor El-Seif Engineering Contracting and UAE-based Alec for the contract to construct buildings around the racetrack at Qiddiya’s Speed Park. 

The initial scope of works for the buildings is understood to be valued at about SR7bn ($1.9bn). Later works, which are still at the design stage, could take the final value up to SR15bn.

In November, MEED reported that QIC is preparing to award an estimated $500m roads, utilities and tunnels (RUT) package at its Qiddiya entertainment city development in January next year.

QIC selected a joint venture of local contractor Saudi Real Estate Infrastructure Company (Binyah) and Qatar’s Infraroad Trading & Contracting Company to deliver the infrastructure works at Qiddiya’s resort core.

The two contracts, worth SR2.29bn, were awarded for packages three, four and seven, which include the construction of roads, bridges and utility networks.

In September, QIC selected a joint venture of local contractor Albawani and Qatar-based Urbacon Trading & Contracting Company to deliver the Water Park Hotel at Qiddiya’s resort core.

Qiddiya is an entertainment destination being established on a 367 square-kilometre site located about 45 kilometres from Riyadh city centre. The project is funded directly by the Public Investment Fund (PIF).