Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, also known as Sarusajai Stadium, is a

football stadium Football stadium may refer to: * A stadium used in gridiron football, association football or Australian rules football * A soccer-specific stadium Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sp ...

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is the current home ground of

NorthEast United FC NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Sup ...

. Besides hosting

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, the stadium is also used for

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 ...

. It had a total capacity of 35,000 which was later reduced to 25,000 due to installation of bucket seats for 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup, which was hosted in India. In 2007, it hosted the 33rd National Games of India and in 2016, hosted the 12th South Asian Games. The stadium hosted the Assam Global Investors' Summit on 3 and 4 February 2018 and the

65th Filmfare Awards The 65th Filmfare Awards ceremony, presented by The Times Group, honored the best Indian Hindi-language films of 2019. The ceremony was held on 15 February 2020 in Guwahati and broadcast on Colors TV the following day. This is the first time in ...

on 15 February 2020. The stadium recorded the highest attendance for a football game in Assam when 32,844 spectators came to see the ISL match between local club

NorthEast United NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Sup ...

and visitors

Chennaiyin Chennaiyin Football Club is an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Football in India, Indian football. The club was founded in Au ...

on 20 October 2016.

History

This one-tier multipurpose stadium is located in Lokhra,

Northeast India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

. There is only a limited number of seats in the main stand however bucket seats are now installed for rest of the stands to conduct the FIFA U17 World Cup, 2017. The stadium pays tribute to the late

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

who was the third Prime Minister of India. An international friendly between

and

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

was played at this stadium on 13 November 2011. On 12 March 2015

played against

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

for the 2018 World Cup qualifier. From 2014, it has been the home ground for

in the newly formed

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

and for which it underwent major renovations. The stadium has been selected as one of the provisional venues for the

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...

to be held in

in 2017. Further upgrade plans are expected to be put in place like introduction of bucket seats, refurbished media and broadcast box etc. The stadium was the main venue of 2016 South Asian Games, which was held in both Guwahati and

Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the 330th most populous city in India with a ...

from 5 to 16 February 2016. The stadium was also used by

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

champions Aizawl FC (2016–17) of Mizoram and

Minerva Punjab FC RoundGlass Punjab FC is an Indian professional football club from Mohali in Punjab that competes in the Punjab State Super Football League and I-League. Founded as ''Minerva Academy FC'', in 2005, the club name was rebranded to ''Minerva Punjab ...

(2017–18) of Punjab as their home ground for AFC group stage matches. The stadium has been selected as one of the provisional venues for the

FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament for female players under the age of 17. It is organized by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). The tournament is held in even-numbered ye ...

to be held in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

where it will host the opening. On March, 2020, the Government of Assam constructed isolation wards during the

COVID-19 pandemic in India The COVID-19 pandemic in India is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). As of , according to Indian government figures, India has the second-highest n ...

in the premises.

Major Football Matches

As well as local matches, the stadium has also hosted major national and international matches. ''

India national football team The India national football team represents India in international football and is governed by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). The team is affiliated to FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Indian team, which was once cons ...

matches'' ---- '' 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup matches.''

References

External links

Stadium information
{{Football stadiums in India Football venues in Assam Athletics (track and field) venues in India Sports venues in Guwahati Monuments and memorials to Indira Gandhi Indian Super League stadiums 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup venues 2007 establishments in Assam Sports venues completed in 2007