Egypt's Ahly said late on Sunday that they have acquired the necessary permits to start the construction of a new stadium on the outskirts of Cairo, fulfilling a long-held target of building their own venue. Ahly have used Cairo's International Stadium, which is owned by the state, as their home venue for over six decades, having been forced to abandon a small stadium they built in the early 20th century due to security concerns. Named after club icon Mokhtar El-Tetsh, the small stadium is currently used as a training ground for Egypt and Africa's most successful side. Successive administrations vowed to build a new stadium but nascent plans failed to materialize, with many questioning whether it's financially feasible. However, Ahly said the club will lay the cornerstone for the new stadium on May 1. "The efforts of chairman Mahmoud El-Khatib … led to the club being granted all approvals to build the new stadium on its land in El-Sheikh Zayed district (north west of Cairo)," the Red Devils said in a statement. Ahly, who share Cairo's International Stadium and Alexandria's Borg El-Arab venue with arch rivals Zamalek, did not provide any further details over the new stadium's capacity or costs. In December 2019, the club announced it had secured a 25-year lease for Al-Salam stadium, which they re-named Ahly Stadium. However, the team continued to hold their high-profile matches at the 74,100-seater Cairo Stadium, even though they play behind closed doors. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)