Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu, one of the world's classic football stadiums, is to be renamed following its strategic partnership with the Abu Dhabi investment fund Ipic.
Spanish media reports said that Real’s president Florentino Pérez has admitted that the club is planning a change to the stadium’s name and reports said some of the new names being considered included the Abu Dhabi Bernabeu and the Cepsa Bernabeu.
International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic) owns the Spanish energy company Cepsa.
When contacted locally, Ipic declined to comment.
The strategic partnership deal with Ipic announced in October – reportedly worth up to €20 million (Dh83.5m) a year – includes help to finance the development of the stadium as well as naming rights.
The Bernabeu seats 81,000 fans and opened in 1947. Its redevelopment, which will include a hotel and a shopping centre, is expected to cost about €400m and be completed by 2017.
Ipic's investment will also fund a series of Real Madrid museums and expansion of the club's global network of football schools.
Real topped Deloitte’s 2013-14 money league with almost €550m in revenues, ahead of Manchester United and Bayern Munich.
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