Purpose-built for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, the Alassane Ouattara Stadium (also known as the National Stadium or Olympic Stadium) will host the Afcon 2023 final, as well as nine other fixtures at the tournament, which begins on 13 January 2024.
Contents
- 1 What is the Alassane Ouattara Stadium like?
- 2 How much did the Alassane Ouattara Stadium cost?
- 3 Where is the Alassane Ouattara Stadium?
- 4 Controversy at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium
- 5 Why is it called the Alassane Ouattara Stadium?
- 6 Afcon 2023 fixtures at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium
- 7 What is the largest stadium in Africa?
What is the Alassane Ouattara Stadium like?
The Alassane Ouattara Stadium was designed and constructed in anticipation of Ivory Coast hosting the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
Instead, it will be a host at Afcon 2023. This change in hosting date came around after Cameroon were stripped of the 2019 tournament due to stadium and infrastructure construction delays. As a result, Egypt hosted the 2019 edition, Cameroon were given Afcon 2021, with Ivory Coast receiving the next tournament instead.
Afcon 2023 is the first major competition to be hosted in Ivory Coast since Afcon 1984.
It's enormous, that much is clear. It is the 11th largest stadium in Africa and by far the biggest in Ivory Coast, nearly double the size of all the others.
The Alassane Ouattara has 96 columns on its exterior, some adorned with stained glass in the national colours. These act as a facade and as supports for the roof, which is 51.4m above ground level.
CAF have officially revealed that the opening match of the next Africa Cup of Nations to be hosted next year in Cote d’Ivoire is scheduled to take place on Saturday, 13 January 2024 at the 60,000 capacity Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan. The final takes place on 11 Feb 2024. pic.twitter.com/IqQyPkZhzy
— Babatunde Koiki (@BabatundeKoiki) March 30, 2023
There are three tiers in this bowl stadium. The lower tier has 24 rows of seating, the middle tier has 13 rows and the upper tier has 28 rows.
How much did the Alassane Ouattara Stadium cost?
The Alassane Ouattara Stadium was built at a cost of around £200m.
Like many newly built stadiums in Africa, Ivory Coast's national arena was constructed with the help of the country's partnership with China. Chinese brands and companies were heavily involved in the building and the design was prepared by the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design.
Construction on the ground began in mid-December 2016 and was expected to be complete by October 2019. It was instead finished in 2020 due to several issues, including poor weather, malaria breakouts and COVID-19.
The Chinese-built Alassane Ouattara Olympic Stadium stands as the latest sporting masterpiece on the continent. The 60,000-seater stadium is now getting ready to host the opening and final matches of the Africa Cup of Nations that will run in Cote d'Ivoire from 13th of January… pic.twitter.com/uCUt03x4Og
— CGTN Africa (@cgtnafrica) September 24, 2023
Where is the Alassane Ouattara Stadium?
Situated 20km north of central Abidjan, the Alassane Ouattara Stadium is designed to, one day, sit at at the centre of an enormous 287-hectare ‘sports city'. Should these plans come to fruition, Abidjan will have one of the largest sporting districts in Africa, with facilities to host football, rugby, athletics and many other events.
Controversy at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium
At the match between Ivory Coast and Mali on 12 September 2023, the pitch at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium looked atrocious. Under heavy rain, the turf was covered in enormous puddles. The game was stopped at half-time and did not resume afterwards.
After so much money spent on the project, the Ivorian people were infuriated at the quality of the pitch, or lack thereof. In fact, the corridors and halls of the stadium were flooded, as well as the pitch.
Nasser Edy Nicolas, a commentator on the Ivorian channel NCI, called for “those responsible” to “be held accountable and punished in accordance with the law.”
“The Ivorian taxpayer can't spend over 200 million euros on the construction and renovation of the Ebimpé Stadium and then, after 2 or 3 matches, end up with this!” he is quoted as saying by Sport News Africa.
Why is it called the Alassane Ouattara Stadium?
The ground is named after Alassane Ouattara, the President of Ivory Coast since 2010.
Afcon 2023 fixtures at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium
| Date | Time (GMT) | ‘Home' team | Result | ‘Away' team | Round | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 January 2024 |
20:00
|
 Ivory Coast |
–
|
 Guinea-Bissau |
Group A
|
|
| 14 January 2024 |
14:00
|
 Nigeria |
–
|
 Equatorial Guinea |
Group A
|
|
| 18 January 2024 |
14:00
|
Equatorial Guinea |
–
|
Guinea-Bissau |
Group A
|
|
| 18 January 2024 |
17:00
|
Ivory Coast |
–
|
Nigeria |
Group A
|
|
| 22 January 2024 |
17:00
|
Equatorial Guinea |
–
|
Ivory Coast |
Group A
|
|
| 22 January 2024 |
20:00
|
 Mozambique |
–
|
 Ghana |
Group B
|
|
| 28 January 2024 |
17:00
|
Winner Group A |
–
|
3rd Group C/D/E |
Round of 16
|
|
| 2 February 2024 |
20:00
|
Winner R4 |
–
|
Winner R3 |
Quarter-finals
|
|
| 7 February 2024 |
20:00
|
Winner QF3 |
–
|
Winner QF2 |
Semi-finals
|
|
| 11 February 2024 |
20:00
|
Winner SF1 |
–
|
Winner SF2 |
Final
|
What is the largest stadium in Africa?
The Alassane Ouattara Stadium is the 11th largest ground in Africa. You can see a full list below.
| 1 |
FNB Stadium |
94,736 |
Johannesburg |
South Africa |
| 2 |
New Administrative Capital Stadium |
93,940 |
New Administrative Capital |
Egypt |
| 3 |
Borg el-Arab Stadium |
86,000 |
Alexandria |
Egypt |
| 4 |
Stade des Martyrs |
80,000 |
Kinshasa |
DR Congo |
| 5 |
Cairo International Stadium |
75,000 |
Cairo |
Egypt |
| 6 |
Ibn Batouta Stadium |
65,000 |
Tangier |
Morocco |
| 7 |
Stade du 5 Juillet |
64,200 |
Algiers |
Algeria |
| 8 |
Ellis Park Stadium |
62,567 |
Johannesburg |
South Africa |
| 9 |
Abuja Stadium |
60,491 |
Abuja |
Nigeria |
| 10 |
Stade 7 November |
60,000 |
Radès |
Tunisia |
| 11 |
Alassane Ouattara Stadium |
60,000 |
Abidjan |
Ivory Coast |
| 12 |
Stade Municipal de Kintélé |
60,000 |
Brazzaville |
Congo |
| 13 |
National Stadium |
60,000 |
Dar es-Salaam |
Tanzania |
| 14 |
Paul Biya Stadium |
60,000 |
Yaoundé |
Cameroon |
| 15 |
Heroes National Stadium |
60,000 |
Lusaka |
Zambia |