Al Masry SC Stadium – design description

How did the plan to build a new stadium in Port Said originate?

The old Port Said Stadium opened in 1955 and has since undergone several major upgrades. The venue served Al Masry SC's players on a daily basis and also accommodated matches in international events, including the African Cup of Nations (2006), the U-20 World Cup (2009) and the U-17 World Cup (1997).

However, the venue became infamous after the riots of February 1, 2012, which left 74 people dead. Since then, the stadium has been closed, with the exception of 2018, when matches were allowed to be played there. In 2021, the facility was demolished. The demolition was carried out with the intention of building a new facility in its place, meeting modern standards. The initial plan was also revealed.

On June 15, 2022, the brand new concept for the stadium was presented to the wider public. The project is the initiative of Kamel Abu Ali, a businessman and former chairman of Al Masry SC, who himself prepared the designs and pledged a contribution of 100 million Egyptian pounds to the construction of the new arena.

What is the future Al Masry SC Stadium supposed to look like?

The concept is to build a football-specific facility, without an athletics track. The pitch will be rotated 90 degrees from the previous one and will be on a north-south axis. The playing field will be surrounded by stands, which will be much larger along the pitch, divided into two tiers. The auditorium will be largely covered by a canopy, with the roof merging with the façade into one. The capacity of the stadium will be 22,566 spectators.

An important part of the design is to be a tall, 30-storey building to be erected next to the stadium. It will be half divided between a hotel and residential flats, with a shopping centre below. The plan also includes the construction of new car parks.

When will the new Al Masry SC Stadium be built?

You can see coverage of the construction of Al Masry SC Stadium on a separate subpage

Wadi El Nile has been appointed as the contractor and the first work on the construction of the new stadium started on October 9, 2022, with the entire project estimated to cost more than 3.5 billion Egyptian pounds. The development of the stadium itself, to be completed in phase I, is expected to cost 1.28 billion pounds. However, the full implementation of the design, including the tall building, is expected to provide revenue of min. 360 million pounds per annum. The facility is to be built with government support, and construction of the stadium is expected to take 18 months.