Oran Olympic Stadium () is a multi-use

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 either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

in Belgaïd, in the Bir El Djir suburb of

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

, Algeria. Completed in 2019, it is used mostly for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

matches. It will have a capacity of 40,143 people. The stadium is also called Miloud Hadefi Stadium as it is a part of the ''Miloud Hadefi Olympic Complex''. it was used as the opening and closing ceremony venue of the

2022 Mediterranean Games The 2022 Mediterranean Games ( ar, ألعاب البحر الأبيض المتوسط 2022, links=, lit=, translit=ʾAlʿāb al-Baḥr al-ʾAbyaḍ al-Mutawassiṭ 2022), officially known as the XIX Mediterranean Games and commonly known as Oran ...

. The inaugural match of the stadium was held on 17 June 2021, when Algeria beat Liberia 5:1 in a friendly.

Stadium

Characteristics

The stadium has been inspired by the San Nicola Stadium in

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

, built in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, which was designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano.

Construction

On December 20, 2006, planned the project of construction of the Olympic Complex. The stadium was planned for a capacity of 75,000 seats but was reduced to 40.000. On December 5, 2011, the minister of Youth and Sports, El Hachemi Djiar, announced that the stadium would be completed before the end of 2012. He also added that the entire project would be finished in 2015. But due to delays in construction work, the complex was finished in 2019.

Name of the stadium

In 2014, M. Mohamed Raouraoua president of the

Algerian Football Federation The Algerian Football Federation (AFF); ( ar, الاتحادية الجزائرية لكرة القدم) is the governing body of football in Algeria. It was formed in 1962 and was based in the capital Algiers. It has jurisdiction on the Algerian ...

suggested that the stadium can take the name of the former legendary footballer of MC Oran and of the national team Abdelkader Fréha. Some other names were suggested like the other former legendary footballer Miloud Hadefi. Finally he kept the name of Olympic Stadium of Oran.

Name of the olympic complex

In the bigining of June 2022, the olympic complex was named ''Benhaddou Bouhadjar aka Colonel Othmane Olympic Complex''. But on 23 June 2022, the complex was inaugurated and renamed by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in the name of the former international footballer and of MC Oran, Miloud Hadefi and therefore became the Miloud Hadefi Olympic Complex.

Handover and opening

Tenants and events

The Olympic Stadium will host the events of

from the 25 june till 5 of july 2022. Also It will host all Algeria national football team matches starting from the first match against Uganda in the

2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches will be organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, the 34th edition of the international men's football champi ...

Transport connections

The stadium is part of the Oran Olympic complex that is situated just 5 minutes away from several bus stations and the Oran Tramway final destination stop that makes travelling to the stadium very easy from all regions of

Football matches

The stadium will host national and international matches. It was inaugurated by a friendly international game between Algeria A' and

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

on 17 June 2021.

References

External links

Future stadium images
at worldstadiums.com {{Portal bar, Africa, Algeria, Association football, Architecture Football venues in Algeria Sports venues in Oran Multi-purpose stadiums in Algeria