The Solomon Islands National Stadium is the

national stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

of the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

island nation An island country, island state or an island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. Approximately 25% of all independent countries are island countries. Island countries are historically ...

of the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

and is located in the capital

Honiara Honiara () is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. , it had a population of 92,344 people. The city is served by Honiara International Airport and the seaport of Point Cruz, and lie ...

. The 10,000-seat venue was originally constructed as the main venue for the

2023 Pacific Games The 2023 Pacific Games, officially known as the XVII Pacific Games, will be a continental multi-sport event for Oceania countries and territories that is scheduled to be held in Honiara, Solomon Islands between 19 November and 2 December 2023. T ...

and was given to the country as a gift from the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

at a cost of

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

$71 million. The venue can host

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 ...

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

, and

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 ...

. At time of construction, it was the largest infrastructure project that China had undertaken in the

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

region.

History

The Solomon Islands were granted hosting rights to the

in 2016. Originally, plans were to construct the new main stadium in

Burns Creek Burns Creek, a watercourse of the Manning River catchment, is located in the Northern Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. Course and features The Burns Creek rises on the eastern slopes of the Great Dividing Range, about northeas ...

before shifting to the

Solomon Islands National University The Solomon Islands National University (SINU) was established in 2013 by the Government of the Solomon Islands to provide quality and affordable education. Faculties SINU has five faculties and a centre for distance and flexible learning. The ...

sports grounds. By 2019, the Solomon Islands government recognized that it would have difficulty funding necessary infrastructure projects. In July of that year, the government signed a memorandum of understanding with

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

for the latter to construct the stadium. About the donation, Secretary to the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Jimmie Rodgers said, "The stadium is another example of the cordial relations between Solomon Islands and Taiwan". After the Solomon Islands switched political allegiance from Taiwan to the

, the Chinese government committed to providing grants for the construction of the stadium and other projects for the games around the capital. At the time, both parties believed construction would begin in May 2021 and take twenty-four months to complete.

Groundbreaking Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are o ...

took place on 5 May 2021 with contracting work completed by the

China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation Ltd. (abbreviation CCECC) was established in June 1979 under the approval of the State Council of the People's Republic of China. It performs international contracting and economic cooperation, C ...

and architecture work done by the Central South Architectural Design Institute. However, construction was significantly delayed because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Construction was also slowed by the discovery of unexploded

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

munitions that were discovered during excavation. The official handing-over ceremony for the finished stadium took place on 14 September 2023. The first event held at the stadium was a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

association football match between the Solomon Islands women's national team and

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

scheduled for late October 2023.

Controversies

Many members of the public and government, including opposition leader

Matthew Wale Matthew Cooper Wale (born 13 June 1968) is a Solomon Islands politician. He is a member of the National Parliament of the Solomon Islands, and was elected to Parliament representing the Aoke/Langalanga constituency on 27 March 2008. Political ...

, criticized the hosting of the Pacific Games and costs of construction and its long-term benefits. He believed other issues, such as public healthcare, should be prioritized.

BenarNews Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a United States government-funded private non-profit news service that broadcasts radio programs and publishes online news, information, and commentary for its audiences in Asia. The service, which provides editoriall ...

reported that Prime Minister

Manasseh Sogavare Manasseh Damukana Sogavare (born 17 January 1955) is the sixth and current Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, serving since 24 April 2019. He previously held the office in 2000–2001, 2006—2007 and 2014–2017; in all he has served over ni ...

argued that the country's economy would have collapsed if it were not for the positive financial impact of the games. There were also concerns regarding China's expected return for funding the games and the cost to maintain the venues in the future.

References

{{Reflist Football venues in the Solomon Islands Athletics (track and field) venues in the Solomon Islands Buildings and structures in Honiara Multi-purpose stadiums in Oceania 2023 Pacific Games