The Saudi Arabian Football Federation has awarded an early works contract to the local Al-Osais Contracting for the construction of its new football stadium in Dammam. 

The scope of work includes site preparation, enabling works and basic infrastructure works. 

The stadium will have the capacity to accommodate 40,000 spectators. It will include hospitality areas, lodges and skyboxes, which will be located on the west side of the facility.

The new stadium will be built in the Dammam sports city area, where the facilities of the Ettifaq FC and Al-Nahda Club teams are located.

In May, Saudi Arabia’s Sports Ministry said it was undertaking an SR10.1bn ($2.7bn) programme to build new sporting facilities and upgrade existing ones over the coming five years.

Speaking at the Future Projects Forum in Riyadh on 22 May, the ministry said its capital projects programme would be split into four principal elements.

The largest of these, and the most immediate, is the scheme to upgrade and increase the capacity of five existing football stadiums ahead of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup, which the kingdom will host in 2027.

In June, the ministry invited construction companies to submit prequalification documents by 13 July for contracts to build the sports stadiums. 

The next main element of the ministry’s projects programme is constructing 30 new training grounds and facilities near the stadiums that will be used for the 2027 competition.

Construction on the schemes is expected to start in July 2024 and be completed by December 2025. A total of 18 facilities will be ready in time for the 2026 AFC Women’s Cup.

Other components of the programme include building 50 new model sports clubs in different cities in the kingdom, including Al-Kharj, Jizan, Tabuk, Dammam and Jeddah.

The new clubs will include indoor volleyball, football, handball and gym facilities, as well as outdoor sports grounds. They will cover a plot area of 20,000-35,000 square metres (sq m) and have a minimum built-up area of 1,000 sq m.

MEED's October 2023 special report on Saudi Arabia includes: 

> POLITICS: Saudi Arabia looks both east and west
> SPORT: Saudi Arabia’s football vision goes global
> ECONOMY: Riyadh prioritises stability over headline growth
> BANKS: Saudi banks track more modest growth path
> UPSTREAM: Aramco focuses on upstream capacity building
> DOWNSTREAM: Saudi chemical and downstream projects in motion
> POWER: Riyadh rides power projects surge
> WATER: Saudi water projects momentum holds steady
> GIGAPROJECTS: Gigaproject activity enters full swing
> TRANSPORT: Infrastructure projects support Riyadh’s logistics ambitions
> JEDDAH TOWER: Jeddah developer restarts world’s tallest tower