Ahmed Zabana Stadiumملعب أحمد زبانة

Ahmed Zabana Stadium (Arabic: ملعب أحمد زبانة‎) is a multi-purpose stadium in Oran, Algeria. It is currently used mostly for football matches. It is the home ground of MC Oran. The stadium holds 40,000. Currently, a new stadium, called Olympic Stadium, is being constructed.

History

The stadium was built in 1955 in the El Hamri district of Oran, known as Lyautey at the time, by mayor Henri Fouques-Duparc. The stadium was inaugurated on 5 May 1957 with a capacity of 40,000 spectators, making it the biggest stadium in Africa at the time. After the independence of Algeria it was renamed Municipal Stadium. After it was named again Stade 19 Juin 1965 in commemoration of the coup of Ahmed Ben Bella by Houari Boumediene made at that date. It was then renamed again to Stade Ahmed Zabana in honor of Algerian revolutionary Ahmed Zabana.

In January 2008, it was renovated to make it compatible with the practice of Rugby union. It was equipped with artificial turf (fifth generation) to replace natural grass in poor condition. In the 2016-17 domestic league season, tenants MC Oran drew an average home attendance of 12,000.