Abu Dhabi set to take over Bernabeu naming rights

Barnaby Read 16:01 21/09/2014
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  • Rebaptism: The iconic Bernabeu stadium will change its name under planned new development.

    International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), which was founded by the first president and father of the UAE, HH Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan and is run by the Abu Dhabi royal family, has agreed a deal with Real Madrid to take ownership of the naming rights to the Santiago Bernabeu, according to Spanish paper Marca.

    The Madrid daily has today claimed that the deal is worth between €450m and €500m (Dh2.1bn-Dh2.4bn) and the astronomical agreement will see the iconic stadium renamed as Abu Dhabi Santiago Bernabeu.

    Marca says the investment will be made over the course of the next 20 years and is set to end the Champions League holders' search for investment designed to help redevelop the Bernabeu.

    It is believed that the Abu Dhabi moniker will only be added to the existing name once the redevelopment has been completed.

    The news conflicts with a story in fellow Madrid paper AS yesterday that claimes that Dubai airline Emirates, who sponsor the team's shirts, were in pole position to strike a deal that would see the ground named either Fly Emirates Santiago Bernabéu, Fly Emirates Bernabéu or Bernabéu Fly Emirates.

    Only last week did the club sign an agreement with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) to make the UAE company the club's official banking partner. But despite Real president Florentino Perez's claims that the partnership made the link between the respective club and country 'stronger than ever', NBAD told Sport360 their arrangement is, for now, a strictly banking agreement.

    The move would mark Real's home as the third stadium in European football to carry sponsorship from the emirates, joining Arsenal's Emirates Stadium and Manchester City's Etihad in selling their stadium naming rights to the region.

    The paper reports that an announcement may be made as soon as today at the club's General Assembly. They also state that IPIC owned Spanish oil and gas company CEPSA could become a leading Real sponsors as part of the deal.

    One man who will no doubt be delighted by the news and is likely to have played a significant part in putting the deal together is HH General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces who is also a huge Real Madrid fan.

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