Philips illuminates Al Jazira Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium for FIFA Youth World Championship

The stadium, which holds 15,000 fans, has recently undergone a complete renovation with the construction of a new grandstand and a huge new 30m high canopy, which made the existing four-corner mast solution inappropriate because of the shadows cast by the luminaires installed on the masts next to the canopy.

Philips Lighting Dubai, which brought the global design competence of Philips International to this part of the world by setting up a Lighting Design and Application Centre couple of years back, was asked to propose a new lighting solution using the existing four masts in accordance with the highest international standards.

After a thorough analysis, Philips Lighting held a series of discussions with the club management and stadium architect to develop a new lighting design. In the solution, 20% of the "Arena Vision" floodlights were mounted on the canopy to illuminate the area of the football field close to the touchlines near the new grandstand.

"While developing the optimum lighting solution for the football field, appropriate consideration was given to the placement of luminaries on the canopy in order to avoid disturbing glare to the goal keeper & also to respect the day-time architectural appearance of the sophisticated grandstand. The lighting solution has been realised with our innovative ArenaVision luminaries, which illuminate the stadium and create the perfect conditions for players, spectators and top-quality television viewing. The lighting solution, with an average illuminance of 1800 lux towards the slow-motion cameras and 2000 lux towards the main camera, ensures high-quality colour images, not only of the overall action, but also of the slow-motion replays and player close-ups, which are an important means of conveying the emotions and atmosphere in the stadium to millions of viewers watching at home," said Kuldeep Vali, Lighting Design Manager Sports at Philips Lighting in Dubai.

"Philips lighting has traditionally had close links with the world of sports and has designed and supplied lighting system for every major sporting event since the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico. For the past two years, we have successfully offered our high-end lighting solutions, as per international standards, to five other football stadiums in the UAE, including the Al Nasr and Al Ahli clubs, which are being used for the FIFA Youth World championship," Kuldeep added.

Ahmed Yousif Ali, General Manager, Al Jazira Club, added: "We are delighted with the new lighting system that has been commissioned by Philips. The high-quality lighting solution will be of great benefit not only during the championship but also over the long run for our players who train at night and for promoting the game, which traditionally is played at night."

The Al Jazira Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium is hosting number of matches during the month-long championship.