More than a giant infrastructure which will put Morocco definitively on the world football map, the Hassan II stadium will be the vehicle of a new Morocco. This is the conclusion of the magazine Young Africa which goes into detail about this major project. The future building will be erected on land located 38 kilometers northeast of Casablanca, more precisely in the Beni Amer forest zone, in El Mansouria (Benslimane), recalls the magazine. The project will cover 100 hectares.
The surface area includes not only the stadium, but also the ancillary facilities, including training grounds, hotel, conference and exhibition center, athletics stadium, sports hall, gymnasium, swimming pool, playground, two centers commercial spaces and four car parks that can accommodate a total of 10,463 vehicles.
The financing is complete. The government and the Caisse de dépôt et de gestion signed, on October 20, 2023, a partnership agreement for the financing of the program to upgrade six football stadiums (Tangier, Casablanca, Rabat, Agadir, Marrakech and Fez), as well as for the construction of the Hassan II stadium. The estimated construction budget is 5 billion dirhams.
The construction site is progressing. “On June 27, Anep launched an international call for tenders including the embankment works, the leveling of the land, the establishment of temporary roads and the elimination of waste from the site. And it was to the Société Générale des Travaux du Maroc (SGTM) that this contract was awarded on August 12”, we read. Colossal, the project should end in November 2028 according to forecasts. Just in time to host the 2029 Club World Cup, which will also be held in Morocco. It will be a sort of dress rehearsal before the big global event, the World Cup, scheduled for the summer of 2030.
«To carry out such a project, a seasoned service provider was needed. The construction contract was awarded on March 20 to the American Populous, in collaboration with the Franco-Moroccan Oualalou + Choi (O+C). The American firm already has around fifteen of the most imposing sports venues in the world to its credit.», we read again. Among others: the Olympic stadium in London, the emblematic Wembley Stadium, the future stadium of Inter Milan, the FNB in Johannesburg and the Lusail stadium in Doha, the last two having hosted World Cup finals.
With a capacity of 115,000 seats, the stadium will be the largest in the world, ahead of the May Day stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea, and its 114,000 seats. The technical prowess is also intended to be aesthetic. The architect is thinking of making it a generous space, open to the world and respectful of the nature it protects, but also the incarnation of the great tradition of Moroccan hospitality, it is emphasized.
Global visibility, record audience, media coverage, economic revenue, prestige, soft power… The benefits are multiple. And Morocco does not hide its ambition: for the Hassan II stadium to host the final.
Par Walid El Ayadi
12/26/2024 at 10:41 p.m.
