DOHA, Oct 25 (Bernama) -- Construction work has started on the world's first underground stadium which Qatar is building for the 2011 Asian Cup football tournament.

The US$20 million all-weather stadium resembles an open laptop computer and covers an area of 200,000 square meters.

According to Dr Athanasios Batsilas, who is Qatar Football Association technical director, the new stadium was slated for completion in 2009 and would be put to use in 2010.

"You won't not see any light towers around this new stadium. This is the unique part of this wonderful project. However, we shall have lights integrated inside the stadium which can house around 10,000 to 11,000 people," Dr Batsilas was quoted as saying in an interview with local daily The Peninsula.

"We'll have the latest audio and video technology inside the stadium. The public will have easy access to the stadium from seven roads leading into the underground car park," Batsilas added. Doha, host of the 15th Asian Games in December 2006, is currently home to the world's largest indoor sports facility -- the Aspire Dome which is part of the sprawling 240ha Aspire Zone which was known as the Doha Sports City during the Games.

In July, the Asian Football Confederation awarded Qatar the rights to host the 2011 Asian Cup, making the tiny Gulf state only the second country other than Iran to host the tournament for a second time. Qatar first hosted the Asian Cup in 1988.

The new stadium is fuelling talk of a bid to host the 2018 Fifa World Cup Finals, amid the euphoria of Qatar's ambitious "Doha 2016" campaign for the rights to host the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics.

-- BERNAMA