Ghazi Stadium (; ) is a

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 ...

located in eastern

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, which is mainly used for

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

matches. It is sometimes called by other names such as the Afghan Football Federation Stadium. It was built during the reign of King

Amanullah Khan Ghazi Amanullah Khan (Pashto and Dari: ; 1 June 1892 – 25 April 1960) was the sovereign of Afghanistan from 1919, first as Emir and after 1926 as King, until his abdication in 1929. After the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War in August 1919, ...

in 1923, who is regarded as ''Ghazi'' (Hero) for the Afghan victory in the

Third Anglo-Afghan War The Third Anglo-Afghan War; fa, جنگ سوم افغان-انگلیس), also known as the Third Afghan War, the British-Afghan War of 1919, or in Afghanistan as the War of Independence, began on 6 May 1919 when the Emirate of Afghanistan inv ...

and gaining independence for his nation after the

Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 The Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919, also known as the Treaty of Rawalpindi, was a treaty which brought the Third Anglo-Afghan War to an end. It was signed on 8 August 1919 in Rawalpindi by the United Kingdom and the Emirate of Afghanistan. Britain r ...

. The stadium has capacity to house 25,000 people after the installation of seats. The Ghazi Stadium was renovated in 2011 after the entire ground was removed and replaced with new soil and

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commer ...

placed on top. The stadium now holds bigger sporting events.

Events

The first international match played inside Ghazi Stadium was a

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 ...

(soccer) match between

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

on January 1, 1941, the game was a draw with neither team scoring. In 1963, American musician

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

held a concert here as part of his tour sponsored by the

US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

. During the late 1990s the stadium was used as a venue for

public execution A public execution is a form of capital punishment which "members of the general public may voluntarily attend." This definition excludes the presence of only a small number of witnesses called upon to assure executive accountability. The purpose ...

s by the

Taliban government The government of Afghanistan, officially called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is the central government of Afghanistan, a unitary state. Under the leadership of the Taliban, the government is a theocracy and an emirate with political powe ...

. The stadium is currently used mostly for football matches between teams from different provinces of the country as well as international matches. The stadium has also housed training facilities for the country's national women's boxing team, as documented in the film ''

The Boxing Girls of Kabul ''The Boxing Girls of Kabul'' is a 2012 Canadian documentary film directed by Ariel Nasr. The film follows young women boxers, under which Sadaf Rahimi, and their coach Sabir Sharifi at Afghanistan’s female boxing academy, as these athletes face ...

''.

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On December 15, 2011, the

Afghanistan National Olympic Committee National Olympic Committee of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, former Afghanistan National Olympic Committee ( fa, کمیته ملی المپیک افغانستان, IOC code: AFG) is the National Olympic Committee representing Islamic Repub ...

celebrated the re-opening of the newly renovated Ghazi in Kabul. Hosted by the Afghan Olympic Committee, the event was attended by U.S. Ambassador

Ryan Crocker Ryan Clark Crocker (born June 19, 1949) is an American retired diplomat who served as a career ambassador within the United States Foreign Service and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has served as United States Ambassador to ...

, Afghan Olympic President Lieutenant General Mohammad Zaher Aghbar, and Commander of

International Security Assistance Force ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , comman ...

Afghanistan General John R. Allen. The event, which also included nearly 5,000 spectators, featured a parade of athletes on the track, opening remarks, a ribbon cutting, and two abbreviated football matches involving both men's and women's football teams. The upgraded playing field will be

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 ...

certified allowing for future matches to be internationally sanctioned.

References

External links

* Football venues in Afghanistan Athletics (track and field) venues in Afghanistan

Sport in Kabul Multi-purpose stadiums 1923 establishments in Afghanistan Sports venues completed in 1923 {{Afghanistan-sports-venue-stub

Events

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See also

References

External links