Al-Ahly Stadium – design description

A new stadium for Al-Ahly, the most successful and one of the most recognizable football clubs in all of Africa, had been in the plans for years. The first concrete vision was unveiled in 2015, and was designed by German studio Albert Speer + Partner. The stadium was to be built in the remote western suburb of Sheikh Zayed City and would accommodate 60,000 spectators.

In late 2017, Mahmoud El Khatib (“Bibo”), the legendary Al-Ahly striker and the first Egyptian to be honored as Africa's best footballer (1983), became the club's new president. He previously served as the club's vice president since 2004. El Khatib has repeatedly declared that his great dream is to live to see the time when Al-Ahly gets a new stadium of its own.

Already on December 31, 2017, El Khatib held a press conference where he revealed new plans for the construction of the stadium. Neither the location nor the capacity changed, but a brand new, striking concept was presented, with a distinctive tower integrated into the stadium, which was prepared by the well-known company Populous. The cost of building the stadium was estimated at 8 billion Egyptian pounds.

On May 1, 2021, the groundbreaking ceremony for the new stadium was held in Sheikh Zayed City, although it was rather symbolic, as no work had practically started then.

It was quiet about the project for a long time, but behind the scenes preparations were intensive. The start of construction was announced on February 14, 2025, but at that time a completely new concept, developed by the Gensler architectural office, was presented.