The Saudi government has allocated two million sq. meters of land for the new Eastern Province sports stadium.

Eastern Province Mayor Fahad Al-Jubair said recently that this would be one of the 11 stadiums built around the country, under the orders of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.

The land is located south of the air base in Dhahran.

“The Eastern Province Mayoralty began the mission of finding a location for the project by contacting the relevant authorities. They were very cooperative in helping to accomplish the task,” said Al-Jubair.

“This land belongs to the Ministry of Defense. It was chosen because of its strategic location and easy access,” he said.

Sources said that Saudi Aramco, which would be building the stadiums, has asked the various provinces to choose their sites so that it can start planning and construction.

Each stadium will have the capacity to seat around 45,000 spectators. The project covers several areas including Madinah, Qassim, Asir, Tabuk, Hail, the Northern Borders, Jazan, Najran, Al-Baha and Al-Jouf.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources would oversee the massive project.

The 11 sports stadiums will be similar to the world class King Abdullah Sports City (KASC) in Jeddah opened earlier this year.

King Abdullah opened the state-of-the-art sports city on May 1. Located about 50 km from Jeddah, it is in a league of its own, and now one of the great sporting venues in the world.

The stadium was constructed on three million sq. meters. It includes a 60,000-capacity football stadium, which meets FIFA standards.