Qatar has dropped its plans to renovate Al Rayyan bin Ali Stadium in Doha for the 2022 World Cup finals and will instead demolish and rebuild it. Â
The original aim was to add a temporary tier of seating to the top of Al Rayyan, increasing its capacity from 22,000 to more than 40,000. After the tournament was over, the idea was that the tier would be dismantled and donated to a developing country.Â
The stadium, which was built in 2003, will now be pulled down and rebuilt from scratch. The addition of the temporary searing will be retained, however, as will the donation after the football is over.Â
Once the new stadium is completed it will contain a social club, a cricket ground and trails for running or walking.Â
In February this year a contract to redevelop the stadium was awarded to Manco International General Contracting, a joint venture between local firm Manco and the UK’s Buckingham Group Contracting. Manco said it will reuse 90% of the deconstruction waste.Â
The stadium is located in Al-Rayyan, the largest municipality in the state of Qatar.Â
Qatar have already cut the number of stadiums being built for the tournament from 12 to eight. Fifa executive Theo Zwanziger has said that the 2022 World Cup should not go ahead owing to safety concerns.Â
The stadium is expected to be completed by 2019.Â
