Benina Martyrs Stadium ( ar, ملعب شهداء بنينة) and until 2011 officially named Hugo Chávez Football Stadium ( ar, ملعب هوغو شافيز), is a

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Su ...

n football stadium located in Benina, a town 19 km east of

Benghazi Benghazi () , ; it, Bengasi; tr, Bingazi; ber, Bernîk, script=Latn; also: ''Bengasi'', ''Benghasi'', ''Banghāzī'', ''Binghāzī'', ''Bengazi''; grc, Βερενίκη ('' Berenice'') and '' Hesperides''., group=note (''lit. Son of he Gha ...

. The stadium was constructed by the same company that built the

Brita-Arena BRITA-Arena is a football stadium in Wiesbaden, Germany. It is the home ground of 3. Liga side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. The stadium is named after its former main sponsor Brita, a German company specialised in producing water filters, and replace ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. The stadium holds 10,550 people. This is Libya's first

all-seater stadium An all-seater stadium is a sports stadium in which every spectator has a seat. This is commonplace in professional association football stadiums in nations such as the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. Most association football an ...

. The stadium is used by most

clubs, and may be used by the national team as well. The surface of the pitch is artificial. The pitch's dimensions are 105m x 68m.Information about Benina Stadium at kooora.com
The cost of construction of the stadium was around LYD 20 million.

History

The stadium was originally named after

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Repub ...

,Libya honours Chavez with stadium
''BBC News'', ''6 March 2009'' due to

n leader

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by '' The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spelli ...

's close friendship with him. However, following the

Libyan Civil War Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...

, it was announced that the stadium had been renamed in honour of the so-called ''Martyrs of February'', the people who were killed in fighting to gain control over Eastern Libya. Venezuela's Hugo Chavez loses Libya stadium honour - BBC News, 8 March 2011
/ref> The stadium was opened on 5 March 2009, as the Libya U-23 team played the Syria U-23 in a friendly. A capacity crowd watched the match finish 2-1 to the Syrians, with Libya and

Al Ahly Benghazi Al-Ahly Sports Cultural & Social Club () known as Al-Ahly SCSC is a Libyan Sports club based in Benghazi, Libya. Al-Ahly SC has its roots in a political party, the Omar al Mukhtar society. History Al-Ahly SC Libya was made a professional footba ...

Ihab Ghafir Ihab is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Ihab al-Ghussein, spokesman of the Interior Ministry of the Palestinian National Authority based in the Hamas-administrated Gaza Strip *Ihab Al-Sherif (1954–2005), served as Egypt's amb ...

becoming the first player to score at the stadium, in the 28th minute. The first goal to be scored at the new stadium in a competitive match was scored by Al Hilal's

Alaa al Oujli Ala, ALA, Alaa or Alae may refer to: Places * Ala, Hiiu County, Estonia, a village * Ala, Valga County, Estonia, a village * Ala, Alappuzha, Kerala, India, a village * Ala, Iran, a village in Semnan Province * Ala, Gotland, Sweden * Alad, Seydu ...

in the 26th minute of their league match with

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazee ...

. The match ended 2-2. The stadium was a confirmed venue for the

2017 Africa Cup of Nations The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2017 or CAN 2017), known as the Total 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champion ...

before Libya's role as host of the tournament was cancelled in August 2014. The stadium hosted the national team's first game in Libya in eight years against

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

on 25 March 2021.

References

External links

Photo at www.worldstadiums.comReport Details & Libya vs. Syria match report Libya vs. Syria match report & Opening Ceremony
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benina Martyrs Stadium Football venues in Libya Buildings and structures in Benghazi Sport in Benghazi Al-Hilal SC (Benghazi)