Santiago to be named Abu Dhabi Bernabéu

Change expected due to a sponsorship deal with investment group IPIC

KARACHI: The Santiago Bernabéu stadium, home ground of Spanish club Real Madrid, will be renamed the Abu Dhabi Bernabéu, reported The Guardian citing Spanish sports newspaper AS's report.


The president of the club, Florentino Perez, was caught on camera admitting the change while he was in a conversation with Lucia Fijar, in charge of the department for Sport and Education in the Madrid regional government.

He admitted to him that the stadium will be renamed by the Abu Dhabi investment group International Petroleum Investment Company, which struck a deal with the club for the redevelopment of the Bernabéu.

The club has not officially announced to change the name of the stadium but Perez admitted that it might be given a 'surname'.

“We’ll call it IPIC Bernabéu or whatever they want … or Cepsa Bernabéu,” said Perez.

The AS has now reported that IPIC Bernabéu was rejected as a name and Abu Dhabi Bernabéu was being hailed as the new favourite.

No cross for Real crest

The Daily Mail reported that Real Madrid have dropped the Christian cross from their official badge in a bid to please their sponsors National Bank of Abu Dhabi.

The move is said to pacify the Muslim supporters in the region while the emblem will not be changed outside the region.

 

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