RIYADH - Saudi Arabia plans to merge the company behind its Qiddiya desert mega leisure development with entertainment business SEVEN, Qiddiya said on Tuesday in what sources told Reuters was a move to get the multi-billion-dollar project back on track.

The merger is designed to ensure the multi-billion-dollar scheme which includes a massive sports stadium for World Cup 2034 is ready to open its gates in time to welcome millions of fans to the world's biggest sporting event, said one of the sources.

(Reporting by Pesha Magid and Federico Maccioni; Editing by Michael Georgy and Christopher Cushing)