The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) is lining up a major investment in Real Madrid, according to reports in Spain.
Newspaper El Confidencial claims the bank is partnering with the Spanish giants to provide $1billion worth of funding to bring an ambitious new theme park and leisure facility to the UAE capital.
Provisionally entitled ‘Real Madrid Resort Island’, such a move would further strengthen the club’s ties to the region, with UAE airline Emirates acting as main shirt sponsors since 2011, and last year agreeing a lucrative new five-year deal.
The club boasts hordes of local fans – partly due to the huge popularity of former midfielder Zinedine Zidane – and regularly runs soccer schools for youngsters with the help of former Los Blancos star and Dubai resident, Michel Salgado.
President Florentino Perez has a long-held wish to further capitalise upon his club’s rampant popularity in the region and his plans to construct the resort island were first published in March 2012.
Those plans, originally intended for a site in Ras Al Khaimah, were temporarily shelved last year, but Perez – who made his fortune in the construction industry – has always remained keen to bring them back to life.
El Confidencial reported that NBAD are keen to join the venture and that an announcement at the Bernabeu later this week.
NBAD are yet to comment but the Spanish paper claims building work could begin in the next few weeks and the site become fully functional by 2017.
The initial plans outlined for the resort two years ago envisaged a multi-purpose leisure, retail and sport facility, built on a site of 50 hectares.
The intended centre piece of the resort was a 10,000 capacity all-seater stadium on the shores of the sea, with an amusement park, yacht club, marina and a Real Madrid museum.
Accommodation would be provided by a 450-room hotel, with a variety of restaurants and cafes also on site.
