Baku Olympic Stadium ( az, Bakı Olimpiya Stadionu), is a stadium, designed and constructed to meet the international standards for stadiums set by the
Union of European Football Associations
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
(UEFA), the
International Federation of Association Football
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 founde ...
(FIFA) and the
International Association of Athletics Federations
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...
(IAAF). It is the
largest stadium in Azerbaijan.
Construction of the 225,000-square-meter stadium on a 650,000-square-meter site was completed in February 2015. The six-storey, 65.7 meter structure near
Boyukshor Lake,
Baku
Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...
,
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
, opened on 6 March 2015. The main tenant of the stadium is Azerbaijan's
national football team, who moved from their previous home at the
Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium
The Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium ( az, Tofiq Bəhramov adına Respublika Stadionu) is a multi-purpose stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan. It is currently used mostly for football matches. It served as the home ground for the Azerbaijan national f ...
. In June 2015 the stadium served as the main venue for the
European Games
The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic Games, Olympic tradition contested by sportsperson, athletes from European nations and several European Olympic Committees#Notes, transcontinental countries. The Games were ...
, hosting the opening and closing ceremonies, and the athletic games. The venue hosted three group games and a quarterfinal at the
UEFA Euro 2020
The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...
. A green area is being developed around the stadium, which is accessible via public transport.
History
The foundation ceremony
The foundation of the Baku Olympic Stadium was laid on 6 June 2011 in a ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of Azerbaijani football.
The ceremony was attended by the President of Azerbaijan
Ilham Aliyev
Ilham Heydar oghlu Aliyev ( az, İlham Heydər oğlu Əliyev, ; born 24 December 1961) is the fourth president of Azerbaijan, serving in the post since 31 October 2003.
The son and second child of the former Azerbaijani leader Heydar Aliyev, ...
and his spouse
Mehriban Aliyeva
Mehriban Arif gizi Aliyeva (; az, Mehriban Arif qızı Əliyeva Paşayeva, ; born 26 August 1964) is an Azerbaijani politician and physician who is the vice president and First Lady of Azerbaijan.
She is married to Ilham Aliyev, the president o ...
, FIFA president
Sepp Blatter
Joseph "Sepp" Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former football administrator who served as the eighth President of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participating in FIFA activities since 2015 as a result of ...
, UEFA president
Michel Platini
Michel François Platini (born 21 June 1955) is a French football administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'Or three times in a row, in 1983, 1984 and 1985, ...
, prominent members of the global football community, heads of various federations, football veterans and other guests. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was informed about the future plans for the construction of the stadium. Speaking at the ceremony, Blatter said:
:''"This is really beautiful, grand building, and more than 60 thousand football fans coming to the stadium will be able to enjoy football."''
Aliyev then placed a symbolic metal capsule inside a football. His son Heydar, scoring a goal in a symbolic gate, dropped the ball into the foundation. Presidents Aliyev with Blatter and Platini, operated a switch starting the concrete pour, and signed a football, which was preserved in memory of the ceremony.
Construction
Despite the groundbreaking ceremony taking place in 2011, the construction of the stadium started only in November 2012 with the excavation and backfilling of the stadium area.
The stadium was completed on February 28, 2015, and the opening took place on 6 March 2015. President Aliyev participated in the opening ceremony.
The total layout of the stadium is 617,000m² and has a capacity for 68,000 people. It is six stories tall.
Baku was ready to host the first European Games in 2015. The Olympic Stadium Project was seen as the most important and prestigious project undertaken by Azerbaijan for the games. Main stadium layout area is 87,000m², total confined space 215,000 m², Maximum Height from ground 60m².
The project was funded by the
SOCAR
The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic ( az, Azərbaycan Respublikası Dövlət Neft Şirkəti), largely known as SOCAR is fully state-owned national oil and gas company headquartered in Baku, Azerbaijan. The company produces oil and na ...
. A Turkish company
Tekfen Construction and Installation Co.,Inc, were given a design & build contract.
Along with the stadium, there were built a number of hotels, a parking venue (3,617 car places), and green space (81,574 square meters).
Stadium contains VVIP, VIP - CIP Suites total 127 each with 720 spectators capacity, total interior special area of 25,200m² and total car parking capacity for 3,078 cars. 1,800 seating capacity warm up area, MEP Building, information centre and two external buildings are other building of the Project.
Events
The stadium hosted
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), competi ...
and ceremonies during
2015 European Games
The 2015 European Games, also known as Baku 2015 or Baku 2015 European Games ( az, Bakı 2015 Avropa Oyunları), were the inaugural edition of the European Games, an international multi-sport event for athletes representing the National Olympic ...
.
The Stadium hosted all of
Qarabag's Champions League group stage matches in the
2017–18 UEFA Champions League
The 2017–18 UEFA Champions League was the 63rd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 26th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.
The final was pla ...
.
The stadium hosted the
2019 UEFA Europa League Final
The 2019 UEFA Europa League Final was the final match of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League, the 48th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 10th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA E ...
on 29 May 2019.
UEFA Euro 2020
The stadium hosted three group stage matches and one quarter-finals match at the
UEFA Euro 2020
The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...
, which was postponed to 2021 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe with its first confirmed case in Bordeaux, France, on 24 January 2020, and subsequently spread widely across the continent. By 17 March 2020, every country in Europe had confirmed a case, and all ...
.
Notable matches
See also
*
List of football stadiums in Azerbaijan
This is a list of football stadiums in Azerbaijan, ranked in descending order of capacity.
See also
*List of European stadiums by capacity
*2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup
*UEFA Euro 2020
References
{{Sport in Azerbaijan
*
Azerbaijan ...
*
List of European stadiums by capacity
This is a list of the largest European stadiums. Stadiums with a capacity of 25,000 or more are included. The list includes stadiums in European countries.
They are ordered by their audience capacity. The capacity figures are for each stadium's ...
References
External links
{{Coord, 40.429766, 49.91979, type:isle, display=title
Football venues in Baku
Athletics (track and field) venues in Azerbaijan
Multi-purpose stadiums in Azerbaijan
UEFA Euro 2020 stadiums
2015 European Games venues
Sports venues completed in 2015
2015 establishments in Azerbaijan