Real Madrid set to rename stadium Abu Dhabi Bernabeu as part of £15m-a-year deal

As well as having it’s name behind one of European football’s biggest clubs Manchester City, Abu Dhabi now looks set to have its name in front of one of the world’s most emblematic stadiums – the Santiago Bernabeu.

The Arab Emirate that has bankrolled Manchester City entered into a financial partnership with Real Madrid last November and for around £15million a year over a reported 20-year period they have won the naming rights for the club’s stadium according to Diario AS.

Coca-Cola and Microsoft had both shown an interest in having their name on the Bernabeu but the race looks to have been won by the Spanish energy company Cepsa which in turn is owned by the IPIC (International Petroleum Investment Company) which is owned by the Abu Dhabi government. 

Madrid-based Cepsa is Spain's fourth largest industrial group in terms of turnover, while IPIC, formed in 1984, has invested in 18 leading companies within the energy and related sectors across the globe. 

In November of last year when the three-year tie-up between IPIC and Real announced by Madrid, president Florentino Perez was caught on camera saying the stadium will be called ‘IPIC or Cespa, whatever they want’.

According to the AS report the sponsors have settled for ‘Abu Dhabi Bernabeu’.