Saudi Aramco is to build 11 world-class stadiums across Saudi Arabia as part of a King Abdullah Programme to improve sports facilities in the country.

The stadiums will be built in the provinces of Medina, Al-Qassim, Eastern Province, Asir, Tabuk, Hail, Northern Border Region, Jazan, Najran, Baha and Al-Jouf.

Each stadium will have a capacity of 45,000 people and will be based on King Abdullah Sports City (KASC), which was opened in Jeddah in May.

KASC is home to a 60,000-seat stadium as well as a 2,000-seat multisports hall, 1,000-seat athletic stadium and training fields for other sports.

Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Ali al-Naimi, said in a statement that Aramco was forming teams to oversee the construction of the ambitious scheme.

Belgium’s Six Construct and the local Al-Muhaidib Trading & Contracting Establishment was awarded a SR2bn ($533m) contract to build the stadium in September 2011.

MEED reported in February 2013 that a joint venture of South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction and the local El-Seif Engineering Contracting Company had been awarded the KASC construction contract for the other facilities.  

When King Abdullah Sports City was approved by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud in February 2009, it was planned to cover an area of 9 square kilometres, 60km north of Jeddah alongside the Mecca-Medina highway.

The original plans were for a 100,000-seat stadium and several other sporting venues and structures, including an indoor arena, grand mosque and outdoor athletics stadium, sports academy and aquatic centre among other structures. The project was downsized in late 2010.