Guangzhou Evergrande begin work on one of world's biggest soccer stadiums

SHOWS:

ANIMATION (RECENT) (EVERGRANDE GROUP - NO RESALE) (MUTE)

1. VARIOUS OF COMPUTER-GENERATED VIDEO OF DESIGN FOR "LOTUS FLOWER STADIUM" NEW SOCCER STADIUM IN GUANGZHOU

STORY: Chinese real estate giant Evergrande Group has begun construction on what will be one of the largest soccer stadiums on the planet in the southern city of Guangzhou.

Work began on April 16 on the Guangzhou Evergrande Soccer Stadium, also called the "Lotus Flower Stadium" which is set to have a capacity of 100,000 and will host the Chinese Super League big hitters, Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC, the Group said.

Once completed the 100,000 capacity will make it the largest purpose-built soccer stadium (by capacity) on the planet, as long as Barcelona's Camp Nou, which currently seats just under 100,000 does not undergo any expansion work, Evergrande said.

North Korea's multi-purpose Rungrado 1st of May Stadium, which also hosts some soccer matches, will remain the largest sports stadium in the world (by capacity) however, with a capacity of around 114,000.

The "Lotus Flower Stadium" will cost around 12 billion yuan ($1.7 billion), include commercial, dining and entertainment areas and aims to be completed by the end of 2022, the group said. The company said it wants to build the stadium because it believes China does not have enough professional, purpose-built soccer stadiums and it hopes that such quality facilities will help improve the chances of Chinese football moving closer towards that of some of the world's premier footballing nations. The lotus flower design was chosen because it is a traditional Chinese flower, the group said, and the design work was done by Shanghai-based designer Hasan A. Syed.

Evergrande says it also plans to build two more approximately 80,000 seater soccer stadiums in China in the future. The designs for those are currently under review.

(Production: Martin Pollard)