The Fez Stadium (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: ملعب فاس) is a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used for multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a design philosophy that stres ...

whitin the Fez Sports complex in Fez,

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. It is used mostly for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

matches and it also has athletics facilities, the stadium holds 45,000 and was built in 2003.

History

The plans of this stadium realized by Moroccan architects and engineers and the launching of the works was done in 1992, but it is only 2 years later that it started its construction which had to be finished in 1997 to shelter with the stadium of Honor of Meknes

1997 African Youth Championship The African Youth Championship 1997 was held in Morocco. It also served as qualification for the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship. Qualification First round First round matches took place on 28-29 September and 19-20 October 1996. Togo and Ma ...

organized by Morocco. The stadium was not delivered on time, mainly because of technical problems, and it was not until 2003 that the work was completed. The entire complex includes a media room, a first aid center, an infirmary and a doping control room, while the stadium car park at the visitors' disposal can accommodate up to 7500 cars and 350 coaches. This stadium also entered Morocco's candidacy for the organization of the football world cup in 2006 and 2010. Thus, on this occasion the complex was completely renovated and had slight modifications with the addition of 5000 places and its total capacity was increased to 45,000 seats. But, on 15 May 2004 the organization was finally granted to South Africa by 14 votes against 10 for Morocco. The Stade de Fès is officially inaugurated on 25 November 2007, four years after the completion of the 2006–07 Throne Cup finals with a match between

FAR Rabat Association sportive des Forces armées royales (, ), abbreviated as AS FAR (), is a professional sport club based in Morocco's capital Rabat, that competes in Botola, the top tier of Moroccan football. The club was founded in 1958, 3 years aft ...

(D1) and

Rachad Bernoussi Club Rachad Bernoussi is a Moroccan football club currently playing in the second division. The club was founded in 1961 and is located in the town of Casablanca. They play in the Complexe Bernoussi, and their president is Hicham Chbora.. Pe ...

(D2), which ended with the victory of

(1–1, 5 tabs to 3). The entrance was free for this meeting and 40,000 spectators from different Moroccan cities attended. The first goal scored in this stadium is a goal by

Atik Chihab Atik Chihab is a Moroccan footballer. He usually plays as defender. Chihab is currently attached to FAR Rabat. Chihab played for the FAR Rabat side that won the 2007 Coupe du Trône, the club's ninth, although he scored an own goal in the fina ...

(

). Since the inauguration of the stadium, the

Maghreb de Fès Maghreb Fez () is a Moroccan professional football club based in Fez, that competes in Botola, the top flight of Moroccan football. The club was founded in 1946. Maghreb Fez, commonly known as MAS, is one of the oldest sports clubs in Morocco. ...

has taken up residence, and played its first match in this stadium, during a league match against the Youth of El Massira match that takes place. sold out with a 0–0 draw.

References

Athletics (track and field) venues in Morocco Football venues in Morocco

Stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

Multi-purpose stadiums in Morocco Sports venues completed in 2003 Sport in Fez, Morocco Maghreb of Fez 2007 establishments in Morocco 21st-century architecture in Morocco {{Morocco-sports-venue-stub