Education City Stadium

Education City Stadium is a football stadium located in Al Rayyan, Qatar. It was built as a venue in time for the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup. On 3 September 2020, the stadium hosted its first official match, played in the 2020-21 Qatar Stars League season.

Located on the outskirts of the capital Doha, the Education City Stadium has a capacity of 40,000 seats. It was given the nickname “Diamond in the Desert”. It is considered to be one of the world’s most environmentally sustainable stadiums. Also in 2019, it received a 5-star GSAS rating.

Planning for the construction of this beautiful stadium started way back in 2014. Following that, construction started rolling in May 2015. Within only 2018, the external structure was complete. On June 15, 2020, the Education City Stadium was opened for exhibition. September of the same year, its very first official match was hosted in the stadium.

The stadium’s auditorium has 3 levels. The highest among them have a capacity of around 15,000. It contains 39 skyboxes with their kitchen each. Also, every skybox can accommodate 9-36 persons. The stadium also carries 6 media pavilions and a 150 people conference room.

Education city stadium’s enclosed outer shell resembles a diamond. It is highly reflective during the day and illuminated with multiple diodes at the night. The stadium also boasts a better thermal controlled interior, so that, regardless of whether outside, inside temperature is always kept to 24 – 28-degree Celsius. It is built slightly lower the ground level for better thermal control conditions.

Education City Stadium Information:

Full Name Education City Stadium
Location Education City, Al Rayyan, Quatar
Architect Pattern Design, RFA Fenwick Iribarren Architects
Capacity 45,350
Construction Began 2016
Stadium Opened 2020
Structural Engineer Buro Happold, Arup
Contractors J&P Qatar WLL, Conspel Qatar WLL

Criticism:

When in the construction period, the stadium’s working condition was heavily criticized.  Several international media outlets hit the stadium with criticism about the poor working conditions of immigrant workers. Later, the work condition was improved to avoid any further negative evaluation.

2022 FIFA World Cup in the Education City Stadium:

Date Time (AST) Match
22 November 16:00 Denmark vs. Tusinia
24 November 16:00 Uruguay vs. South Korea
26 November 16:00 Poland vs. Saudi Arabia
28 November 16:00 South Korea vs. Ghana
30 November 18:00 Tusinia vs. France
2 December 18:00 South Korea vs. Portugal
6 December 18:00 Winner Gr.F vs. Runners-Up Gr.E
9 December 18:00 Quarter-finals

After the 2022 FIFA World Cup is complete, the stadium’s biggest auditorium will be dismantled. It will reduce the capacity to around 25,000. The stadium will be then used by the nearby several universities’ athletic teams.

Qatar is known for promoting profitability while maintaining ecology at its best. Their work is visible with their stadiums’ construction planning for the coming FIFA World cup. This type of planning will assist future designers in creating more functional and sustainable designs.

Golam Muktadir is a passionate sports fan and a dedicated movie buff. He has been writing about both topics for over a decade and has a wealth of knowledge and experience to share with his readers. Muktadir has a degree in journalism and has written for several well-known publications, including Surprise Sports.