Football: Ivory COast to get New stadium for AFCON 2021

SCAU has won a competition to design a 20,000-seater football stadium in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, to host matches at the 2021 Africa Nations Cup.

The £50 million Stade de Yamoussoukro, which will be built in Ivory Coast's administrative capital, is one of six stadiums that will host games during the tournament.

The Paris-based architecture firm's proposal sinks three of the four spectator stands into the ground. The west stand, which will be raised on the brow of the hill, will house the stadium's facilities, including the changing rooms food, press facilities and offices.

A single ring-shaped roof will cover the stands and an open air concourse containing catering facilities for fans.

The French firm, which also designed the Stade de France in Paris and the Olympic Stadium Ataturk in Istanbul, recently added a wavy roof as part of their renovation of the Stade Vélodrome in Marseilles.

According to the architects embedding the stadium in the ground will mean the venue is low-cost to build and maintain, meaning it will have a life span beyond the Africa Nations Cup.

In 2001, the third AFCON trophy was revealed, a gold-plated cup designed and made in Italy. Cameroon, permanent holders of the previous trophy, were the first nation to be awarded the new trophy after they won the 2002 edition. 

Egypt won the gold-plated cup indefinitely after they became three-time champions in 2010, in an unprecedented achievement by winning three consecutive continental titles. Unlike previous winners who would have then taken the trophy home, Egypt were presented with a special full size replica that they were allowed to keep. First and second time winners usually get a smaller sized replica for their trophy cabinets.