Images: Royal Commission for Riyadh City
Plans have been announced for King Salman Stadium, a new 92,000-capacity stadium in Riyadh that will serve as the home of the Saudi national football team.
The Populous-designed stadium will be located in the north of the city on King Salman Road next to King Abdulaziz Park. It will be named after Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the King of Saudi Arabia.
It is hoped the stadium will be opened by the end of 2029. It would be used during the 2034 FIFA World Cup, which Saudi Arabia is set to be awarded after Football Australia opted against bidding.
The plans were announced by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City and Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Sports. The design of the stadium has been inspired by the nearby mountainous land and “local urbanism”.
King Salman Stadium and its surrounding facilities will cover an area of more than 660,000 square metres. The site will also include two training fields, fan zones, an indoor gym, an Olympic swimming pool, an athletics track and volleyball, basketball and padel courts, as well as a number of shopping centres and recreational places.
The stadium itself will include a royal box that will feature 150 seats, 120 hospitality suites, 300 VIP seats and 2,200 dignitary seats. Sustainable cooling systems will also be fitted in the stands and on the stadium floor.
The top of the stadium will be surrounded by internally extended screens for fans, while the roof will feature a ‘walking path’.
The announcement of the King Salman Stadium plans comes after design concepts were recently revealed for a new 45,000-capacity stadium in Riyadh. The plans were unveiled by New Murabba Development Company, which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
New Murabba Stadium is set to be completed by the end of 2032. Saudi Arabia already has four large stadiums under construction or being upgraded ahead of the 2027 Asian Cup, which it is hosting.
In January, more details emerged on Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium, a new multi-purpose venue that will form part of Qiddiya, one of Saudi Arabia’s ‘giga-projects’ under its Vision 2030 masterplan. This stadium has also been designed by Populous.
The 45,000-seat stadium would be located in Qiddiya City on the 200-metre-high Tuwaiq cliff near the Saudi capital of Riyadh. Qiddiya said the “futuristic” venue would be capable of hosting some of Saudi Arabia’s biggest sports, entertainment and cultural events.
Last month, the Building and Wood Workers International (BWI) organisation announced that it was filing two formal complaints with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) against Saudi Arabia over the alleged use of forced labour among migrant workers.
The BWI’s complaints refer to “severe human rights abuses” and wage theft involving at least 21,000 construction workers by various Saudi construction companies, but mainly two that are now bankrupt.
Share this