Putting on a fantastic show for the final match of the tournament

The President Cup is a national football tournament of the UAE that takes place between the various football leagues of the country. The final match of the tournament was set to take place at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain, with 2 of the most anticipated teams clashing for the finals, making it one of the most awaited matches of the year. 

With thousands attending the final match as well as being broadcasted live on TV – it had to be perfect with no room for error. 

Providing power for any stadium is challenging with the need for extensive cabling and distribution. Sometimes cables need to be installed up to 3 or 4 levels above, from power connections taken from the source in the ground level. 

Add to that, the stadium’s façade would pose an even bigger challenge in getting the generators installed as close as possible. Equipment transportation inside the stadium would require meticulous planning to make sure the stadium’s façade was not damaged in the process. 

Initially scheduled for May 2022, the final match of the tournament was postponed, as the country observed a period of mourning after the passing of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. 

With the match being rescheduled a few times and with no clear timeline to work towards, the equipment for the event could not be reserved ahead of time.

With a stadium and show this big, a lot of power was required and a reliable supplier to who provide this within a short span of time. 

Having worked with us on several events previously, the client knew that Aggreko was the perfect choice for the project. 

Power generation for stadiums are a massive undertaking. Power is needed not only for lights, sounds and visual effects but also for the massive display screens to show match recaps, sponsor ads and key highlights. With the match also being live broadcasted on TV, even a tiny glitch in the power supply could cost the organisers tremendously. 

Aggreko was commissioned to provide power, cooling and distribution for the entire event which included the stadium as well as the surrounding areas from where the event organisers and other suppliers would operate. 

One of the biggest challenges were installation of this big amount of equipment for the job within the given time. Being a world leader in power and cooling meant, not only did Aggreko supply all of the equipment, but also had a dedicated team to oversee every single detail of the project. 

Aggreko provided a dedicated Project Lead, an engineer and seven labour crew for each day. The team did several site visits and collaborated closely with the organisers and the site management team to make sure the design and calculations were perfect providing the right solution for the event. 

However, another obstacle to overcome was that of the stadium’s façades. Installing the generators along with the fuel tanks close to the stadium was not going to be an easy task.

The team faced great difficulty in trying to fit the generators and fuel tanks within the façade of the stadium. It took two days with two dedicated forklift drivers to bring all of the equipment into the location. 

Once inside, it took another ten days to install and test every piece of equipment and distribution cabling to make sure everything worked perfectly.

Power for the show was needed for lights, laser shows, sound effects, videos, projectors, TV broadcast and SFX. The five main locations for power supply and distribution included the main stadium, the welfare tent, control cabins, production office and the pyro tent from where the finale fireworks show would be managed.

For cooling, the team provided solutions for some of the areas inside the stadium as well as the welfare tent and control rooms to keep the projectors area cooler.

Thanks to our Aggreko Event Services team’s extensive experience working with stadiums, they were able to overcome the challenges and deliver on every requirement of the client.

With HSE safety training and daily toolbox talks, the team always followed best practices during installation and testing of the equipment. 

Availability of equipment and our ability to deliver even during an extremely busy event period had a great impact on the event.

Despite the show being postponed and rescheduled several times, our team delivered on every single required and made sure the show power and cooling went on smoothly.

This helped the organiser put on a seamless show with thousands watching the match from the stadium as well as live on TV.

Once again, the Aggreko Event Services team delivered a fantastic show-power and cooling proving that no task is too big for them.