20 August 1955 Stadium (, ) 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 ...

in Mohamed Belouizdad,

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. It is currently used 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 is the home stadium of

CR Belouizdad Chabab Riadhi Belouizdad (); known as CR Belouizdad or simply CRB for short, is an Algerian professional football club based in Algiers, Algeria, that plays in the Ligue Professionnelle 1, the top flight of Algerian football. The club has com ...

. The venue has a capacity of 15,000.

History

20 August 1955 Stadium was opened during the French colonial era in 1930. The stadium hosted the relay competitions for the

1975 Mediterranean Games The 1975 Mediterranean Games, officially known as the VII Mediterranean Games, and commonly known as Algiers 1975, were the 7th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Algiers, Algeria, from 23 August to 6 September 1975, where 2,444 athletes ...

, and the

1978 All-Africa Games The 3rd All-Africa Games (; ), alson known as Algiers 1978 () was a multi-sport event played from 13 to 28 July 1978, in Algiers, Algeria. 45 countries from 49 independent African countries participated in twelve sports. At the closing ceremoni ...

. The venue, along with

Omar Hamadi Stadium Omar Hamadi Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium in Bologhine, Algiers, Algeria. It is currently used mostly for football (soccer), football matches and is the home ground of USM Alger. The stadium has a capacity of 10,000 people. History Openi ...

and

Mohamed Benhaddad Stadium Mohamed Benhaddad Stadium (), is a multi-use stadium in Kouba, Algeria, Kouba, district of Algiers, Algeria. It is currently used mostly for Association football, football matches and is the home ground of RC Kouba. The stadium once was able t ...

in Algiers, was left by France after Algeria gained independence. It was previously the stadium where Algeria received its guests before the opening of

Stade du 5 Juillet The 5 July 1962 Stadium () (the name refers to 5 July 1962, the day Algeria declared independence), is a football and athletics stadium located in Algiers, Algeria. The stadium was inaugurated in 1972 with a capacity of 95,000. It served as th ...

in 1972 during the reign of President

Houari Boumediene Houari is a given name and surname. It may refer to: Persons Given name *Houari Boumédiène, also transcribed Boumediene, Boumedienne etc. (1932–1978), served as Chairman of the Revolutionary Council of Algeria from 19 June 1965 until 12 Decembe ...

, which became the home of the

Algeria national football team The Algeria national football team () represents Algeria in men's international Association football, football, and is governed by the Algerian Football Federation. The team plays their home matches at the Stade du 5 Juillet, 5 July Stadium in ...

, the Greens. The Greens, in their 10-year residency, only suffered three losses, two against

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

in an official match and one

FC Nantes Football Club de Nantes, commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Naunnt''), is a French professional association football, football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 Ap ...

in a friendly match. Their last game in the stadium occurred on 21 March 1971 against

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

, which resulted in a tie with two goals in each net during the qualifications for the Munich Olympics.

Accidents

On November 26, 1982, during the 7th round of the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

between

NA Hussein Dey Nasr Athlétique de Hussein Dey (), known as NA Hussein Dey or NAHD for short, is an Algerian professional football club based in Hussein Dey, Algiers. The club was founded in 1947 and its colours are red and yellow. Their home stadium, 20 Aug ...

and

MC Alger Mouloudia Club d'Alger (), referred to as MC Alger or MCA for short, is an Algerian football club based in Algiers. The club was founded in 1921 and its colours are red, green and white. Their home stadium, Ali La Pointe Stadium, has a capacit ...

, a record attendance of supporters attended to watch the stars of the “Gijon” epic after the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national footbal ...

. Due to the record attendance, the side stands of the stadium collapsed, resulting in the death of ten supporters and the injuries of more than 500. This incident is one of the deadliest tragedies that Algerian stadiums have encountered since Algerian independence. On August 22, 2019, Algerian singer and rapper

Soolking Abderraouf Deradji (; born 10 December 1989), known professionally as Soolking, is an Algerian singer and rapper. He started his career under the pseudonym MC Sool until 2013 before adopting his new stage name. He incorporates reggae, soul, hip ...

held a concert which was attended by more than 30 thousand fans. He was accompanied by a group of artists, namely

L'Algérino Samir Djoghlal (; born 2 May 1981), better known as L'Algérino (), is an Algerian-French rapper and singer whose family came from the Chaoui-Berbers, Berber tribes in Khenchela, Algeria A childhood friend of Jul (singer), JUL, he was discovered ...

, Fianso, Alonzo and

Dhurata Dora Dhurata Dora (; born 24 December 1992) is a Kosovo-Albanian singer and songwriter. Life and career Dhurata Murturi was born into an Albanian family in the city of Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany. She went to elementary school in the town of F ...

. Whilst entering the stadium, five people died due to a stampede, and 32 were injured. The five victims, with ages ranging from 13 to 21, died during transfer to

Mustapha Pacha hospital Centre Hospitalo-Universitair Mustapha Pacha (French: Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire Mustapha d'Alge) was founded in 1854 in the town of Moustapha (now Sidi M'Hamed) and is the largest hospital in Algeria. This hospital center is one of 14 Cent ...

(CHU). According to

, if he had known what happened, he would have cancelled the concert immediately. The main cause of the accident was

overselling Overselling or overbooking is sale of a volatile good or service in excess of actual supply. Overselling is a common practice in the travel and hospitality sectors, in which it is expected that some people will cancel. The practice occurs as an in ...

. More tickets were sold than the stadium capacity. The accident resulted in the dismissals of the director of the National Copyright Office, the organizer of the event, the head of the national police and the Minister of Culture.

References

External links

Stadium overview
at Goalzz.com {{Use mdy dates, date=August 2019 20 Aout Sports venues in Algiers Sport in Algiers Multi-purpose stadiums in Algeria 1930 establishments in Algeria Sports venues completed in 1930