20 August 1955 Stadium (Algiers)

History

20 August 1955 Stadium was opened during the French colonial era in 1930. The stadium hosted the relay competitions for the 1975 Mediterranean Games, and the 1978 All-Africa Games. The venue, along with Omar Hamadi Stadium and Mohamed Benhaddad Stadium in Algiers, was left by France after Algeria gained independence. It was previously the stadium where Algeria received its guests before the opening of Stade du 5 Juillet in 1972 during the reign of President Houari Boumediene, which became the home of the Algeria national football team, the Greens.

The Greens, in their 10-year residency, only suffered three losses, two against Tunisia in an official match and one FC Nantes in a friendly match. Their last game in the stadium occurred on 21 March 1971 against Mali, which resulted in a tie with two goals in each net during the qualifications for the Munich Olympics.

Accidents

On November 26, 1982, during the 7th round of the national championship between NA Hussein Dey and MC Alger, a record attendance of supporters attended to watch the stars of the “Gijon” epic after the 1982 FIFA World Cup. Due to the record attendance, the side stands of the stadium collapsed, resulting in the death of ten supporters and the injuries of more than 500. This incident is one of the deadliest tragedies that Algerian stadiums have encountered since Algerian independence.

On August 22, 2019, Algerian singer and rapper Soolking held a concert which was attended by more than 30 thousand fans. He was accompanied by a group of artists, namely L'Algérino, Fianso, Alonzo and Dhurata Dora. Whilst entering the stadium, five people died due to a stampede, and 32 were injured. The five victims, with ages ranging from 13 to 21, died during transfer to Mustapha Pacha hospital (CHU). According to Soolking, if he had known what happened, he would have cancelled the concert immediately. The main cause of the accident was overselling. More tickets were sold than the stadium capacity. The accident resulted in the dismissals of the director of the National Copyright Office, the organizer of the event, the head of the national police and the Minister of Culture.

References

References

1. "20 August 1955 Stadium in Alger, Algeria".
2. (26 November 2018). "مضت 36 عاماً وماتزال ذكرى حادثة إنهيار مدرجات ملعب 20 أوت 1955 بالعناصر، في أذهان مشجعي كرة القدم في الجزائر.".
3. (24 August 2019). "هكذا هلك 11 مناصرا في ملعب 20 أوت أمام أنظار ماجر ورفاقه".
4. (23 August 2019). "Alger : une bousculade à l'entrée d'un concert de Soolking fait plusieurs morts".
5. (27 August 2019). "Bousculade mortelle au concert de Soolking à Alger : qui est responsable ?".