Four groups have been selected for technical negotiations for the construction of an Olympic-class stadium in Istanbul, project sources say (MEED 9:5:97). An award is expected by 22 September from the client, the Olympic Games Preparation and Arrangement Committee, the sources add.

The four ventures selected out of eight returning bids in April are:

Millenium Stadium Team Consortium - comprising Morse Diesel International of the US, with the UK's HOK International and the local Gulermak Agir Endustri;

Dumez GTM of France, with the local Enka; Ellerbe Beckett International of the US with the local Tekser;

Campenon Bernard and SAE, both of France, with the local Tekfen.

The 80,000-seater stadium is planned for athletics, soccer and other field sports, and will comply with Olympic standards. It will be the centrepiece of 14 separate sporting facilities at an Olympic Park planned at Ikitelli near Ataturk International Airport.

The stadium will go ahead even though Istanbul has been unsuccessful in bidding to become the host to the Olympic Games in 2004. The government is required to provide 80 per cent of the financing required for works at the park, according to the Turkish Olympic Act, but financing offers by bidders for the stadium will be taken into consideration, project sources say.