HIBAPRESS – w.m.a. After months of extensive expansion and refurbishment works, Tangier's Grand Stadium opens today, Friday, with a friendly match between the Moroccan national team and its counterpart from Mozambique, after it became a global sports edifice with specifications that meet the standards of the International Football Federation for the 2030 World Cup.
The stadium witnessed a comprehensive rehabilitation project that raised its capacity to 75,500 seats, making it compatible with the standards and specifications of the International Football Federation "FIFA" for the 2030 World Cup, and even becoming one of the largest stadiums on the African continent. The stadium has become a jewel in the middle of the Tangier sports village complex, which extends over a total area of approximately 74 hectares in the southern part of the city of Tangier, and whose construction embodies the continuous care of His Majesty King Mohammed VI to develop the sports sector at the level of the city of Tangier. The Grand Stadium of Tangier, and the sports village in general, which is managed by the National Company for the Implementation and Management of Sports Facilities (Sonarges), forms a space that will make sport part of the daily life of the population, whether through its facilities or through the green spaces it has, which constitutes a respite for practicing sports in the open air. Thanks to the infrastructure of the Grand Stadium of Tangier with global “FIFA 2030” standards, Tangier can now host major sporting matches under conditions that are no less professional or aesthetic than global sports capitals. In fact, Tangier's Grand Stadium has three levels of stands, which have been equipped with blue and white seats in line with the visual identity of the city of Tangier, including the lower, middle, and upper sides of the stadium, in addition to a special hospitality platform, and a group of VIP and VVIP lounges with a direct view of the stadium ground. The capacity of the main platform reaches 210 guests, while the capacity of the stands allocated to VIPs reaches 1,300 spectators, in addition to the preparation of 142 suites distributed over three levels, each with a capacity of between 10 and 20 seats. Thus, Tangier's Grand Stadium has been equipped with a hybrid natural ground, with advanced technology, that combines natural grass and artificial fibers, to provide an ideal ground in terms of drainage, resistance, rapid recovery of ground quality, as well as performance, sustainability and ensuring the safety of players. One of the characteristics of Tangier's Grand Stadium is that it also has four changing rooms for the teams, instead of the two stipulated in the laws, as well as spaces for recovery, offices for coaches, massage rooms, others for cryotherapy, and warm-up rooms equipped with sports equipment, and a mixed area exceeding 500 square meters. To provide suitable conditions for media coverage, a press platform has been equipped, and a conference hall that can accommodate 210 journalists, in addition to spaces allocated for the media, and others belonging to the organizers (CAF or FIFA) that include entertainment spaces, health facilities, and others. In order to ideally manage the flow of the audience and ensure security and safety inside the stadium, the Grand Stadium of Tangier has been equipped with an operations control center, where it has nearly 900 cameras distributed inside and outside the stadium covering all its entrances, in addition to the latest facial recognition technologies to ensure the safety of the spectators. With new-generation audio-visual equipment, two giant screens have been installed, each with an area of 220 square meters, in addition to a perimeter screen that exceeds 700 meters in length, and a high-quality sound system, as well as technical halls for managing technical interfaces and giant and perimeter screens, and two additional perimeter screens have been installed at the stadium level. Parking spaces dedicated to VIPs have been prepared on an area of approximately 10,000 square meters with a capacity of up to 400 cars, and other parking spaces that can accommodate between 600 and 700 cars for VIPs, in addition to a public parking lot that can accommodate about 3,000 cars in the stadium. Accessibility standards have been taken into account for people with special needs, as the stadium has been equipped with two elevators that allow movement to the three levels of the stands for people with motor disabilities, regardless of the ticket category. With its bright colors that illuminate the city's sky at night, the Grand Stadium confirms that Tangier, the city with international renown, has become at the level of hosting continental and global football events.
