A contract valued at $89.99 million for the construction of an Olympic- standard stadium has been awarded to a venture of the local Tefen & Tesisat with France's Campenon Bernard-SGE and SAE International. The client is the Olympic Games Preparation & Arrangement Committee.

The venture won the contract after negotiations by the committee with four bidders (MEED 5:9:97). With seating for about 80,000 people, the stadium is planned for athletics, soccer and other field sports, and will comply with Olympic standards. The stadium will also have a closed stand for 32,000 spectators. It will be the centrepiece of 14 separate sporting facilities planned for an Olympic Park at Ikitelli near Ataturk International Airport.

The stadium will go ahead even though Istanbul was unsuccessful in its bid to become the host to the Olympic Games in 2004. Construction is expected to start in about two months for completion in about three years.

The government is required to provide 80 per cent of the financing required for works at the park, according to the Turkish Olympic Act.

The architects for the venture are France's M Macary and A Zublena, designers of the Stade de France in Paris which will host the 1998 football World Cup. Campenon Bernard is also building the Stade de France.