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29 March 2024

$1 billion Real Madrid resort project in UAE put on hold

The $1 billion Real Madrid Resort Island project in Ras Al Khaimah has been put on hold due to a lack of funding.

Published
By Parag Deulgaonkar

The $1 billion Real Madrid Resort Island project in Ras Al Khaimah has been put on hold due to a lack of funding, according to a media report.

The project, announced in 2012, was being developed as a joint venture between Spanish football team Real Madrid, the government of Ras Al Khaimah and Luxembourg-based RAK Marjan Island Football Investment Fund.

The 50-hectare resort, which was set to open in 2015, included a theme park, a 10,000-capacity stadium that will face the sea, a museum dedicated to the Spanish club, sports facilities, residential units and a five-star hotel.

“Building won’t start any time soon,” a spokesman of the RAK Investment Authority told UAE-based ‘Sports Talk’ magazine.

“Plans are indefinitely on hold. The resort stands no chance of opening in January 2015, if at all. We have been searching for funding over the past two months, but due to the harsh economic times, none has materialised.

“We haven’t totally abandoned the project, but it will need fresh backers, since we were banking on promised funds from France and Luxembourg. Even if we got some today nothing would be open until the end of 2016, at the earliest,” he said.

When contacted by Emirates 24/7 for confirmation, a Rakia official said he would call back.

However, people aware of the deal, on conditions of anonymity,  told Emirates 24/7 that the government was only going to provide with the land while the funding was to be arranged by the Luxembourg-based company.

In March 2012, Louis Armand De Rouge, chief executive of RAK Marjan Island Football Fund, said the complex was designed not only for the millions of Real Madrid fans around the world, but would also give families an unforgettable experience.

“Real Madrid has more than 300 million fans throughout the world and more than half live in Asia. We will bring Real Madrid closer to these people, who will be able to get to know the club better,” De Rouge had said.