Welcome to the inaugural article in our Dentons Middle East Sports Series. We are kicking off with football, following Saudi Arabia's award to host the FIFA World Cup™ in 2034. This is a historic moment for the country as well as the Middle Eastern region. As part of its preparations, Saudi Arabia has launched numerous large-scale construction projects, including world-class stadiums and ancillary facilities. These developments and projects involve significant considerations. Here is our high-level hat-trick of key points to consider at an early stage:

1. Watch. Eat. Celebrate. Sleep. Repeat.

A stadium is where matches take place, crowds gather and commentators narrate the action. However, the stadium is not where the World Cup experience starts and finishes. It is imperative that additional facilities are properly planned, built and delivered (on time and on budget) for visitors, officials, players, support teams and (post-event) residents. Precincts, hotels and alternative accommodation (for all budgets), training venues, team base camps, retail areas, fan zones, energy centres, park and ride and other modes of transportation are key aspects of any World Cup event and post-event legacy.

The proximity of ancillary facilities (particularly, accommodation, team base camps and training venues) and routes to the stadium need to be carefully considered and optimised to minimise travel time. The contractors building the energy centre must comply with the licensing requirements and regulations of the Saudi Electricity Regulatory Authority and Saudi Energy Efficiency Centre in addition to FIFA's sustainability requirements. If more than one contractor is building the stadium and ancillary facilities, interface and coordination issues should be managed to avoid delay and cost overrun.

2. Fit for FIFA. Built for legacy.

The stadiums and ancillary facilities must be designed and built to meet FIFA's stringent requirements. All procuring authorities, architects and contractors need to be aware of FIFA's latest laws, requirements, rules and regulations while integrating local building codes and laws. Like any major world-class sporting event, the build-up and event are typically where most attention is spent. However, long-term legacy use should also be considered at design and build stages.

The Football Stadiums Guideline 2022 is the latest edition of FIFA's general requirements and there are other separate, specific technical requirements. FIFA's requirements need to take priority over the general requirements of procuring authorities. FIFA's requirements might be updated after the World Cups in 2026 and 2030. The time and cost impact of complying with changes to the requirements should be considered during design and construction. For example, the technology for the stadium needs to be properly planned to comply with FIFA's requirements and avoid it becoming obsolete by 2034.

3. Branding beware!

FIFA appears to be rigorous about protection of sponsors' commercial exploitation rights. Expect each stadium and ancillary facilities to be free of branding to allow FIFA's sponsors to overlay their branding. This restriction extends to all plant, materials and hoarding during construction and signage post-construction. Contractors should identify the plant and materials likely to contain branding to be covered up (e.g. lifts, CCTV, etc.) and obtain approval from procuring authorities in advance of installation.

Get in touch

Our experts have advised businesses including developers, suppliers, financiers and investors on world-class sporting events across the globe including, more recently, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Please get in touch with us to discuss.

This article is also available in Arabic, click here to download.