MADRID / ABU DHABI: Plans have been put on hold for a proposed $1bon Real Madrid-themed resort in Ras al-Khaimah, UAE.

The 50-hectare attraction, comprising a 450-room hotel, marina, yacht club, museum, amusement park and 10,000-seat stadium, was to have been built on the man-made Marjan Island, 105km north of Dubai. However, Michael Hernandez, the master developer of the project, told the Reuters news agency on Thursday that the project could be switched to Abu Dhabi.

Hernandez added that Louis-Armand de Rouge, chief executive of Real Madrid Resort Island, a Luxembourg-based company, did not buy the land upon which the resort was set to be developed. Rouge said last year that the complex would open in January 2015.

Rouge also said at the 2012 launch that prospective investors in the complex included “individuals, private institutions and some financial institutions. Hernandez said that the project had been put “on hold”, while a Real spokeswoman said that reports that the development had been scrapped completely were not true.

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