Qatar football stadium contract worth Dh3.1bn won by Salini Impregilo

The stadium will be built with a demountable top tier, with seating shipped to developing nations once tournament is over.

A rendering of the Al Bayt stadium in Qatar which is to b built for the 2022 World Cup.

The Italian construction company Salini Impregilo has announced that it has landed a €770 million (Dh3.1 billion) contract to build and operate the Al Bayt stadium for the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar.

The company is leading a consortium alongside Galfar Al Misnad – the Qatari arm of the Omani contractor Galfar Engineering – and the Italian steel fabrication specialist Cimolai. They will build a 60,000-seat stadium in the city of Al Khor in the north of Qatar.

About €716m (Dh2.9bn) of the awarded amount is for construction of the stadium and the remaining €53m is for maintenance works. Construction is due to be completed in September 2018.

The stadium’s design inspiration is the Bayt Al Sha’ar, a black and white tent that has traditionally been used by Bedouin tribes in Qatar seen as a symbol of hospitality to travellers.

It will sit within a 200,000 square metre precinct serving the local community that will contain retail space and restaurants. There will also be tracks around it that can be used for jogging and cycling.

Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy has previously indicated that the stadium will be built with demountable seating, so that it can be reduced to a capacity of 32,000 once the tournament is over. As with a number of other stadiums being built for the World Cup, these seats will then be shipped overseas to be used to help build stadiums in developing nations.

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