Qatar 2022 World Cup officials have revealed plans for the fifth 2022 World Cup venue – the Al Rayyan stadium.
The 40,000-capacity Al Rayyan will be located on the site of the existing Ahmed bin Ali Stadium – a 25,000-seat venue built in 2003 – with the old structure being demolished to make way for the new.
Designed by a team including US-based masterplanners
AECOM, Danish engineers
Ramboll and UK architects
Pattern, the stadium will feature innovative cooling technologies, such as roof angles and windscreens.
The design intends to showcase Qatar’s heritage, with the façade of the stadium being formed from seven patterns, representing different aspects of Qatari culture.
A cultural precinct surrounding Al Rayyan Stadium will include a vast range of facilities, including a mosque, aquatics centre, athletics track, cricket pitch, tennis courts and hockey pitch.
Al Rayyan will feature a number of sustainable solutions as part of efforts to limit the stadium’s impact on the environment. The cultural precinct will generate renewable energy through its operations, while a number of energy and water efficiency measures will look to make the site carbon neutral.
Following the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the capacity of Al Rayyan Stadium will be reduced to approximately 21,000.
The stadium’s modular upper tier will be donated to nations in need of sporting infrastructure, creating a global legacy of football development.
The downscaled stadium will become the new home of Al Rayyan Sports Club, which has historically been one of Qatar’s most popular and successful football teams.
In its early days, the team that became Al Rayyan Sports Club was funded by fans from the surrounding area. Those same fans, their children and the wider community in Qatar will benefit from Al Rayyan Stadium and Precinct for generations to come, in line with the organising committee’s commitment to “building a better future for Qatar and its people”.
Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy – the agency responsible for the World Cup stadiums and infrastructure – said work on the stadium will start shortly.
Work is already underway on four venues – Al Wakrah, Al Bayt/Al Khor, Khalifa International Stadium and the Qatar Foundation Stadium & Health and Wellness Precinct.
