Viral 'Sky Football Stadium' Wows Internet, But Is Saudi Arabia Really Building It?

Last Updated:November 01, 2025, 11:12 IST

An AI-made video of a ‘Sky Stadium’ floating above Saudi Arabia went viral, fooling millions into believing it was part of the kingdom’s 2034 FIFA World Cup plans.

A fake AI-generated video of a 'sky stadium' in Saudi Arabia is going viral. (PC: X)

A video of a supposed ‘Sky Stadium’ in Saudi Arabia has taken the internet by storm. On Friday, it had gone viral on social media and was even carried by several news channels around the world.

The videos claimed that the stadium will be ‘suspended 1,150 feet (over 300 meters) above the ground’ and open before 2032 in time to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup in the West-Asian country. Within hours, it generated millions of impressions and prompted other influencers to make further videos on it.

Each showed a simple but huge football stadium, fitted between three skyscrapers like a bowl. However, news agency AFP‘s investigation uncovered that the video was Artificial Intelligence-generated. Riyadh does plan to build a futuristic football area on top of a real estate complex in The Line — a new mega-city project — but it had no resemblance at all to the videos circulating on the internet.

“This design is completely fake and bears no resemblance to anything Saudi Arabia is planning. It appears in no official sources," AFP quoted a source close to the matter.

The video originated from an Instagram account ‘hyporaultraworks’, which regularly puts AI videos of futuristic infrastructure, including football stadiums. The video was described as ‘an aerial flyby of a skyscraper stadium design’ in the caption, with no mention of Saudi Arabia or the FIFA World Cup.

“I had no idea about any Saudi project when I made this," the account holder told the news agency, adding it was “purely an imaginative AI concept, exploring what a vertical, skyscraper-style football stadium could look like."

“What started as a simple AI concept has taken on a life of its own — over 50 million views later, our ‘Sky Stadium’ design has gone global (and slightly off the rails)," the user also wrote on their Facebook page.

Saudi Arabia is spending big on infrastructure as the desert nation prepares to host the world’s biggest football event in nine years’ time.

News sports Viral 'Sky Football Stadium' Wows Internet, But Is Saudi Arabia Really Building It?

Read More