Qatar’s World Cup organizers have awarded the main construction contract for one of their final tournament stadiums.
The Al Thumama stadium will be built by a joint venture between Qatar’s AlJaber Engineer (JEC) and Turkey’s Tekfen Construction.
The venue will be located between E-Ring and F-Ring Roads, or between the Medical Commission and the under-construction Kahramaa Awareness Park.
It is expected to host matches up the quarter-final stage, and will seat some 40,000 people.
Like several other Qatar stadiums, it will be dismantled to accommodate half that many people after 2022.
The selection of the Turkish firm comes as ties between Qatar and Turkey grow increasingly stronger.
In a statement, Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SCDL) Secretary General Hassan Al Thawadi said:
“The stadium in Al Thumama is located in one of the most rapidly developing areas of Doha.
Once ready, the stadium and its surrounding precinct will not only become one of the capital’s central sporting arenas, but will also serve the local community as a central community destination.”
Progress report
Qatar is expected to finish eight World Cup stadiums by 2020. However, FIFA has yet to decide how many venues the country needs for the tournament.
Some, like Khalifa International Stadium on Al Waab, are almost complete, if not slightly behind schedule.
Meanwhile, work on the Al Khor Al Bayt and Al Wakrah stadiums are expected to wrap up next year.
And Al Rayyan and Qatar Foundation are slated for a 2019 completion.
Khalifa International Stadium is nearing completion & our stadiums are beginning to take shape #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/ehsBrnZIAS
— Road to 2022 (@roadto2022) February 19, 2017
But other venues remain in the preliminary stages. The design for at least three of the venues, including Al Thumama, Lusail and Ras Abu Abboud have yet to be revealed.
And the Ras Abu Abboud stadium will not have a main contractor until at least the second quarter of this year, the SCDL said.
So far, Qatar has chosen a diverse range of firms to build the stadiums, including from India, China, Italy and Cyprus.
Thoughts?
