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Saudi Arabia, as part of its bid to host the 2034 World Cup, has submitted plans to build 11 stadiums, including one 350 metres above sea level.
The proposed stadium is located in Neom, an unbuilt city in the northwest of the country, and can only be reached by high-speed elevators and driverless cars.
The stadium, which is part of Saudi Arabia’s “The Line” project aimed at diversifying the Saudi economy away from oil, will host one of the quarter-finals.
Saudi Arabia’s bid has not been challenged and the country has an October deadline to submit its plans.
Of the 11 new stadiums, eight are located in the capital, Riyadh, including the 92,760-capacity King Salman International Stadium, which will host the opening and final matches of the World Cup.
The cities of Jeddah, Al Khobar and Abha will also host matches. The 2034 World Cup will be the first time the expanded tournament is held in one country, with a total of 48 teams participating.
FIFA’s congress will confirm the host country on December 11. For Neom, an entirely new city will need to be built.
Its flagship project, The Line, is billed as a car-free city that is just 200 meters (656 feet) wide and 170 kilometers (106 miles) long, but only 2.4 kilometers of the project are It is reportedly expected to be completed by 2030.
The line will be taller than the Empire State Building and about the same length as the distance between Bristol and London.
The tender documents claim that the new Neom stadium will be “run entirely on renewable energy”, primarily from wind and solar power.
Neom plans to build a new international airport, which the tender documents state will be able to accommodate 12 million domestic and international tourists each year by 2034.
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