Plans are under way to build Bahrain’s biggest integrated sports stadium featuring a football pitch, an underground shopping complex and cineplex. 

The Southern Municipal Council is working with a special ministerial committee tasked to prepare a comprehensive study on the project, which council chairman Ahmed Al Ansari described as “visionary”.

The stadium, located in the Southern Governorate, will accommodate up to 50,000 people and will include a retractable roof, an international standard football pitch surrounded by tracks and an underground shopping complex. It will also include a cineplex and hypermarket along with halls for basketball, handball, bowling, badminton and table tennis. 

Officials involved in the planning stage are also debating having an Olympic-size swimming pool and sports training schools.

“The existing Bahrain National Stadium and Khalifa Sports City, despite major renovations, still do not match aspirations for Bahrain’s future direction towards having exquisite sporting facilities,” said Al Ansari.

A location has not been selected in the governorate, but most likely it will be in Sakhir, he added.