El Khatib Reflects on Laying the Foundation Stone of Al Ahly Stadium
Mahmoud El Khatib, Al Ahly’s President, expressed his sincere thanks and gratitude to president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi for his great support to Egyptian sports and all its institutions, during Saturday’s historic event.
Al Ahly’s board of directors, headed by president Mahmoud El Khatib, laid the foundation stone of Al Ahly Stadium at the club’s premises in Sheikh Zayed City in the presence of some of the nation’s respectable figures.
In his speech, El Khatib reflected on his club’s historic event, while also sending a special message to Al Ahly fans.
“When I was a player, I used to dream of having a stadium called Al Ahly Stadium. A lot of years have passed and here we are witnessing a new historic chapter in the club’s history.”
The dream started on 5 August 2005 after we managed to have the Sheikh Zayed City’s land. Then, the second step was the issuing of Ministerial Resolution No. 254 which was announced on 31 December 2009 which allowed us a construction rate of 5%. ”
“This construction rate included the establishment of the halls, the stadium, and administrative buildings. We received the ministerial decision to establish the stadium, but we only obtained the approval to start the construction with a specific height of 6 meters, which means that we have to drill down 30 meters, the thing that is very expensive ”.
“We held a meeting with the Urban Communities Authority of Egypt, to explain the matter for them. Then, the work proceeded according to the laws and regulations and we managed to reach 30 meters in height. “
“Also, I would like to thank the Egyptian State for its efforts, as it solved many obstacles by issuing this resolution.”
“We will reach an agreement with one of the international engineering consultant companies, who are specialized in building stadiums, in order to set the design of the stadium.”
“Moreover, we will start doing so after having the approval of Dr. Ashraf Sobhy, Minister of Egyptian Youth and Sports, and that is expected to happen within ten days. ”
“I am not worried about the financing of Al Ahly Stadium, especially that we have a lot of supporters.”
“Al Ahly enjoys a huge name, and since the moment of laying the foundation stone of the stadium, there will be huge efforts to contribute in the construction process.”
‘’We passed a very difficult period. Now, we will start working on achieving the dream of our supporters. Finally, I would like to thank all of our fans for their constant support.’’
