Bahir Dar International Stadium ( am, ባሕር ዳር ዓለም አቀፍ ስታዲየም) is an unfinished

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...

Bahir Dar Bahir Dar ( amh, ባሕር ዳር, 3=sea shore) is the capital city of Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Bahir Dar is one of the leading tourist destinations in Ethiopia, with a variety of attractions in the nearby Lake Tana and Blue Nile river. The ci ...

Amhara Region The Amhara Region ( am, አማራ ክልል, Åmara Kilil), officially the Amhara National Regional State (), is a regional state in northern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Amhara people. Its capital is Bahir Dar which is the seat of the Reg ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. It is used mostly for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

matches although it also has

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

facilities. The stadium has a capacity of 60,000 people. Currently, the stadium is the largest in the country by capacity, but currently lacks seats, an awning, or any facilities, such as concessions or

bathrooms A bathroom or washroom is a room, typically in a home or other residential building, that contains either a bathtub or a shower (or both). The inclusion of a wash basin is common. In some parts of the world e.g. India, a toilet is typically i ...

, beyond structural concrete elements.

History

The construction of Bahir Dar Stadium was started in 2008 by

MIDROC MIDROC-Mohammed International Development Research and Organization Companies is a company owned by Sheik Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi. It has operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Through its Corral Petroleum Holdings AB, MIDROC has ...

Ethiopia. In 2015, the stadium received recognition from CAF and

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

and hosted its first international matches. In March 2015, the stadium hosted the CAF Confederation Cup match between

Dedebit F.C. Dedebit Football Club ( Amharic: ደደቢት የእግር ኳስ ክለብ) is an Ethiopian football club based in Mekelle, Ethiopia. They play in the Ethiopian Premier League, the top tier of Ethiopian football. The team officially moved its ho ...

and Cote d'or of

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

. On June 14, 2015, Bahir Dar Stadium hosted

2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, the 31st edition of the international men's football champion ...

match between

and

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

. The game was attended by more than 70,000 spectators which was well over the capacity of the stadium. On June 21, 2015, Bahir Dar Stadium hosted the

2016 African Nations Championship The 2016 African Nations Championship (also referred to as CHAN 2016) was the 4th edition of the African Nations Championship, the biennial international football championship organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the men' ...

qualification match between

and

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

defeated

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

in front of more than 60,000 spectators. The Ethiopian football federation collected a record 1 million Birr from the gate fee for the match between

and

. As a result of the large seating capacity of the stadium and the big revenue it generates, the Ethiopian Football Federation has plans to use the Bahir Dar Stadium as a home venue for the national team until the proposed stadium in Addis Ababa is completed. In November 2015, the Ethiopian Football Federation announced that Bahir Dar Stadium has been selected as one of the three host cities for the

2015 CECAFA Cup The 2015 CECAFA Cup is the 38th edition of the annual CECAFA Cup, an international football competition consisting of the national teams of member nations of the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA). It took place in ...

. The Stadium is also expected to host the would be largest music concert in Ethiopia on January 21, 2018, with Teddy Afro's "Wede Fikir Guzo" (translated as 'A trip to love')

References

{{Ethiopia national football team Athletics (track and field) venues in Ethiopia Football venues in Ethiopia Multi-purpose stadiums in Ethiopia