Borg el-Arab Stadium

Borg El Arab Stadium

Borg El Arab Stadium
Location	Borg El Arab, Egypt
Capacity	86,000
Surface	Grass
Construction
Broke ground	105 * 70 meters
Opened	2007
Architect	Arab Contractors
Tenants
Egyptian Football Association, Al-Ahly (some of their home games), Al Ittihad Alexandria Club, Smouha SC

The Borg el-Arab Stadium is a stadium commissioned in 2006 in the Mediterranean Sea resort of Borg el Arab; 25 km west of Alexandria, Egypt. It is the largest stadium in Egypt and the second largest in Africa (after FNB Stadium in Johannesburg) with a capacity of 86,000 and is an all-seater. It is also the 27th largest stadium in the world, and the 9th largest association football stadium in the world. It is located on the Cairo-Alexandria desert highway 10 km from Borg El Arab Airport and 15 km from Alexandria's city centre. A running track runs around the pitch, and the ground has four large floodlights. Only one stand is covered by a roof.

The stadium is 145 feddans, is surrounded by a fence which is 3 km long, an internal road network its long is 6 km, a parking lot which could fit 5000 cars and 200 bus beside an airstrip, there are 136 electronic entrances. The main cabin is covered by an umbrella which covers 35% of the stadium total area, and it is considered the biggest umbrella in the Middle East. Its length is 200 m, its dimension is 60 m and its area is 12,000 m², which is equal to 3 feddans.

The stadium is air-conditioned and that condition includes the clothes chambers, the saloons and entrances, also the stadium includes 8 elevators for broadcasters, handicapped, services and important persons. There are 2 sub play grounds for training and each ground can hold 2000 spectators, includes 2 clothes chambers and a play ground for Athletics. The stadium also includes a hotel for 200 guests which is conditioned and has a swimming pool, gym and a department building which contains 80 people. The stadium includes a building which contains 300 presses. This building includes cabinets for broadcasters, entrances for emergency, ambulance cars, 39 and cafeterias, 337 bathrooms which classified to 33 bathrooms for women and 8 bathrooms for the handicapped.

The Stadium was originally commissioned as part of an ambitious 5 international-standard stadiums project for Egypt's bid to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It is also expected to be one of the venues for the Egyptian National Football Team along with the Cairo International Stadium, and the Mubarak Stadium at the city of Giza; 25 km south of Cairo. There is much speculation on whether any of the local (northern Egypt) football clubs will play their home matches in the stadium as they already fail to reach the 20,000+ mark in any of their current games. It is thought that the final matches of the Egyptian Cup might be held there every year.