Fouzi Lekjaa, President of the FRMF, and other representatives from Morocco, leave after a meeting with the Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Faroese and Icelandic Soccer Unions to present their bid to host the Soccer World Cup 2026, in Copenhagen, Denmark, May 3, 2018. Ritzau Scanpix/Anders Kjaerbye/via REUTERS/ File Photo
RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco aims to complete construction of a 115,000-seater stadium in Benslimane near Casablanca by 2027, three years before the World Cup it is co-hosting with Spain and Portugal, the country's World Cup organising committee chairman said on Wednesday.
The stadium, one of the largest in the world, will cost up to 5 billion dirhams ($500 million) to build, the Moroccan government has said.
Morocco is aiming to complete the upgrade and expansion of stadiums in Rabat and Tangier within the next two months, Fouzi Lekjaa told members of the Moroccan employers federation (CGEM) in Casablanca.
After Morocco has hosted the Africa Cup of Nations starting in December, works will start on the stadiums in World Cup host cities Agadir Marrakech and Fez.
Morocco is also increasing its hotel capacity, extending its highspeed train network south to Marrakech and expanding the size of airports in Casablanca, Tangier, Rabat and Fez before the 2030 World Cup.
(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi, editing by Ed Osmond)
