Under the deluge, the lawn remains perfect: the technological secret of the Rabat stadium

It is a blessing for Morocco, hit by drought for several years, but a headache for the organizers: torrential rains are a daily occurrence in the competition. Yet, on the field, the ball rolls fast and well. Far from the catastrophic images of 2014, where the groundskeepers were busy with giant squeegees to clear the puddles, Morocco has this time bet on innovation. The brand new stadium in the capital is the first in Africa to be equipped with SubAir technology.

This revolutionary system, installed under the grass, is based on a network of plastic blocks capable of storing and filtering between 600,000 and 1,120,000 liters of water. In addition to ultra-fast drainage, the device ensures aeration of the roots and thermal regulation of the lawn. As a result: during the opening match Morocco-Comoros, despite the downpour, the game was never slowed down.

A quality of infrastructure praised by the technicians, like Tunisian coach Sami Trabelsi. After his team’s victory over Uganda on another Rabat pitch subjected to the same bad weather, he was full of praise: "After three hours of heavy rain, the pitch remained in very good condition. Thank you Morocco, it allowed us to play our football."