By KUNLE SOLAJA, Agadir, Morocco.

At the foot of Morocco’s mighty Atlas Mountains, where the country’s national football team—the Atlas Lions—draws their proud name, rises a stadium that mirrors its surroundings.

The Grand Stade d’Agadir, one of the venues for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations this December, is not just a sports arena; it is a bold attempt to blend nature with architecture.

From afar, the stadium seems carved out of the brown slopes of the mountains.  Its steep exterior walls, painted in earthy tones, echo the rugged terrain around it.

 Step inside, however, and the scene changes: a sea of green seats blends seamlessly with the lush playing turf, interrupted only by pockets of red in the grand pavilion—a subtle nod to Morocco’s national colours.

On Monday, stadium director Hitcham Allouli revealed that while the current capacity of 42,480 will remain for AFCON, a more ambitious second phase of renovation will follow in preparation for the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which Morocco will co-host.

Grand Stade d’Agadir director, Hitcham Alloul with Sports Village Square’s Kunle Solaja

“The first phase focused on minor upgrades—improving vegetation around the arena, expanding parking space, and adding modern facilities like ticketing and accreditation booths,” Allouli explained. “But the next stage will be transformative.”

That transformation includes lowering the pitch by 10 metres to increase capacity by about 4,000 seats, removing the athletics track to bring fans closer to the action, and extending the upper terrace into a fully covered sports city.

The shape of what Grand Stade de Agadir will look like towards the 20230 World Cup.

The model follows the grandeur of the Grand Stade de Tanger, Morocco’s northern showpiece.

Security has also been modernised, with the introduction of facial recognition cameras, aligning the stadium with international standards.

The locker room at the Grand Stade Agadir

The journey of the Grand Stade d’Agadir reflects Morocco’s long quest for global football recognition.

 Originally designed as part of the country’s 2010 World Cup bid, construction began in 2003 but stalled after South Africa won hosting rights.

Work resumed in 2007, and by October 2013, the arena was complete, making its debut on the global stage during the FIFA Club World Cup.

Designed by Moroccan architect Saad Benkirane in collaboration with Gregotti Associati International, the stadium is an architectural ode to its environment.

Its sloped exterior elevations mimic the Atlas foothills, while its interior is tailored for international sport and comfort: a natural grass pitch, a media tribune for 288 journalists, 12 commentary boxes, three VVIP zones (each seating 250 guests), and 12 luxury lounges that can accommodate 300.

 Players’ facilities include modern locker rooms, ice baths, and saunas.

As AFCON 2025 draws near, the Grand Stade d’Agadir is set to welcome Africa’s finest footballers while showcasing Morocco’s ability to fuse natural beauty with modern sporting ambition.

Its mountainside silhouette will remind fans and players alike that football here is played under the watchful gaze of the Atlas.

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By KUNLE SOLAJA, Tangier

High above Tangier, the silhouette of the Grand Stade de Tanger is changing by the week.What once stood as a conventional open-air bowl is now being crowned with the largest tensile roofs in Africa, and one of the best in the world—a feat of engineering that is as much about symbolism as it is about sport.

According to Anouari Amaoui, the Moroccan architect, the wide expanse roof will be second only to the famous Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Anouari Amaoui, the Moroccan architect of the grand arena, explains the technical details to Sports Village Square man, Kunle Solaja.

The stadium, originally opened in 2011 with 45,000 seats, has been undergoing a dramatic transformation since 2020.

By the time the works finish at the end of September, ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations in late 2025, capacity will reach roughly 75,600 spectators, while a sweeping new roof will give the arena a cutting-edge profile worthy of both AFCON and Morocco’s joint hosting of the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

When completed, the roof will span more than four and a half hectares, sheltering fans from the coastal elements while still allowing natural light to filter into the pitch.

It is not just the majestic nature of the stadium that is awesome; the engineering and the technical conception, and implementation are remarkable.

As Aboutamene Abderrazak, the director of Agence Nationale des Equipment Public (ANEP – the Moroccan agency in charge of public equipment), explains, it is easier to build a stadium from scratch than to outlandishly upgrade a conventional one.

That is what Morocco has achieved with the complete remodelling of a conventional all-covered stadium and turning it into an architectural masterpiece.

The original football pitch was excavated and dug down 10 metres. At the same time, the athletics tracks were scrapped to create rooms for additional spectator stands, including sky boxes, both at the pitch level and at the roof level.

It was a delicate construction that was carefully done as the digging of the ground was almost to the foundation of the original structure.  

The Roof: Engineering at Scale

At the heart of the renovation is the roof system, designed as a tensile structure supported by steel pylons, massive perimeter beams, and a web of tensioned cables.

The roof is the most majestic addition to the arena and it is second to none in Africa

Progress on this complex skeleton has unfolded in stages. By November 2024, 31 of the 42 pylons anchoring the cable network were already in place.

Then, in June 2025, crews undertook some of the most delicate lifts of the entire project: steel beams measuring 60 to 65 meters in length and weighing over 100 tons each were hoisted into position with precision rigging, sometimes requiring several hours per beam under challenging wind conditions.

One of the players locker rooms. Lavishly equipped, even with large TV screen that will allow coaches give visual technical explanations to players.

Once the skeleton was completed, the focus shifted to the covering itself. In late July 2025, rolls of high-performance textile membrane—a gleaming white technical fabric imported from Europe—arrived on site.

Workers began unrolling and clamping the material across the newly tensioned cable net, panel by panel.

When complete, the roof will span more than four and a half hectares, sheltering fans from the coastal elements while still allowing natural light to filter into the pitch.

Behind the Construction Fences

For much of 2024 and 2025, Tangier’s residents have watched as cranes hovered above the skyline and beams swung slowly into place.

The People Behind the Project

The modernization of the Grand Stade de Tanger is a collaboration between multiple layers of expertise. Architect Jaouad Khattabi, whose firm JHK Architectes was responsible for the original design, remains a touchpoint for understanding the project’s architectural DNA. T

he day-to-day management falls under SONARGES, Morocco’s national stadium authority, which has overseen the rollout of smart technologies, improved VIP and press zones, and accessibility upgrades.

On the governmental side, Wali Younès Tazi has made frequent inspections, ensuring that works progress on schedule to meet CAF and FIFA standards.

A Stadium for the Future

Beyond the numbers and steelwork, the symbolism of the Grand Stade de Tanger’s transformation cannot be overstated.

For Tangier, it marks the city’s arrival as a central hub for international sport in North Africa.

For Morocco, it signals ambition—an intent to present infrastructure that can stand alongside the best in the world.

When the roof is fully unfurled and the last facade panels are lit with fibre-optic effects, the Grand Stade de Tanger will no longer be just a stadium.

It will be a stage, ready to host the drama of AFCON 2025 and to welcome the world five years later for football’s greatest tournament.

The first AFCON match at the upgraded stadium will be on 23 December when Senegal face Botswana. Five more matches will follow.

They are the Group D matches of DR Congo v Senegal on 27 December, Benin v Senegal on 30 December, a Round of 16 match on 3 January 2026, a quarter-final match on 9 January 2026 and a semi-final match on 14 January 2026.

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In a groundbreaking move ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations in December and the 2030 FIFA World Cup, Morocco’s Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi has announced the creation of a unique judicial system tailored specifically for the continental and global football showpiece.

Central to the initiative is the establishment of courtrooms inside stadiums to manage minor offenses committed by visiting foreign fans.

Speaking during a radio interview with MedRadio, Ouahbi explained that the goal is to streamline the handling of petty infractions, ensuring swift justice and avoiding pressure on the country’s regular judicial system.

“For a minor offence, we can issue a formal report and proceed with immediate expulsion of the offender,” Ouahbi stated, emphasising that the approach is designed to preserve Morocco’s image during the tournament while maintaining law and order.

To support this mechanism, the government is drafting a special penal code specific to the 2030 World Cup, with laws focusing on stadiums and their surrounding areas. The proposal will be submitted to parliament soon.

“We are working on a special penal code for the 2030 World Cup,” the minister said, adding that it will align with FIFA’s requirements for hosting events of such magnitude.

FIFA recently opened a regional office in Rabat, further cementing Morocco’s preparations for co-hosting the centenary edition of the tournament with Spain and Portugal.

Outlining the framework further, Ouahbi noted that every stadium will have a dedicated judicial committee chaired by the King’s prosecutor and supported by police and gendarmerie officers.

These committees will prioritise expedited justice for ticket holders, with a focus on avoiding detentions that could potentially escalate into health or diplomatic issues.

“We cannot place offenders in detention, as we do not know their health status and cannot predict their reaction to incarceration,” the minister explained.

 “If an incident were to occur in prison, it could tarnish the image of the World Cup.”

For more serious infractions, the plan includes immediate expulsion and the transfer of judicial files to the offender’s home country.

The concept was first discussed during a plenary session of Morocco’s House of Representatives on February 10, where Ouahbi disclosed that the plan drew inspiration from previous World Cup host nations.

In March, Morocco deepened cooperation on the initiative through a meeting with Spanish Justice Minister Félix Bolaños García in Madrid.

Both countries agreed to establish a Tripartite Joint Justice Commission with Portugal, designed to create a robust legal cooperation framework for the tournament.

 A joint declaration was signed to strengthen cross-border judicial collaboration, modernise legal systems through digital transformation, and ensure a coordinated legal approach leading up to and during the World Cup.

This judicial innovation marks yet another step in Morocco’s ambitious preparations, as the kingdom continues to assert itself as a leading force in international football hosting and governance.

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