Nicosia Atatürk Stadium ( tr, Lefkoşa Atatürk Stadı) 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 ...

North Nicosia North Nicosia or Northern Nicosia ( tr, Kuzey Lefkoşa ; el, Βόρεια Λευκωσία) is the capital and largest city of the ''de facto'' state of Northern Cyprus. It is the northern part of the divided city of Nicosia, and is governed b ...

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, isl ...

. It is the largest stadium in

. It is currently used mostly for

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 and hosted some matches for the 2006

ELF Cup The ELF Cup (''Equality, Liberty, Fraternity'') was an international football tournament organised by the Cyprus Turkish Football Federation (KTFF), a member of the NF-Board. It was played only once in 2006. Among the participants were NF-Board ...

. It also serves as the home of Çetinkaya and Yenicami of the

KTFF Süper Lig The KTFF Süper Lig (English: CTFA Super League), formerly known as Birinci Lig ( literally ''First League'') is the top football league in Northern Cyprus. The league was founded in 1955 and is currently contested by 16 teams. At the end of ...

and Gençlik Gücü of the KTFF Birinci Lig. The stadium holds 15,000 people, and has a

tartan track Tartan Track is a trademarked all-weather synthetic track surfacing made of polyurethane used for track and field competitions, manufactured by 3M. It lets athletes compete in bad weather without serious performance loss and improves their resu ...

that is used for athletics competitions and for walking by the locals. The stadium also hosts celebrations in

national holidays National holiday may refer to: * National day, a day when a nation celebrates a very important event in its history, such as its establishment *Public holiday, a holiday established by law, usually a day off for at least a portion of the workforce, ...

, and dance shows, attended by thousands. The plans to build a stadium with a capacity of 20,000 in northern Nicosia were announced on 20 November 1975, when a sign was placed on the fields that would be the site of the stadium. The stadium was opened on 28 January 1990, with a match between Fenerbahçe and

Sarıyer Sarıyer () is the northernmost district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European side of the city. It consists of the neighbourhoods of Rumelifeneri, Tarabya, Yeniköy, İstinye, Emirgan and Rumelihisarı. Sarıyer also administers the Black Sea co ...

, which was won 1-0 by Sarıyer. The inauguration was attended by 25,000 people, a record for Northern Cyprus, as well as Prime Minister

Derviş Eroğlu Derviş Eroğlu (born 7 March 1938) is a Turkish Cypriot politician, who served as the president of Northern Cyprus from 2010Günay Caymaz, and Turkish ministers Mehmet Yazar and İsmet Özarslan. Beşiktaş,

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

and

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...

were also invited. The stadium was later used by Turkish teams for friendly matches in 1990s, including a match between Beşiktaş and Sarıyer on 12 January 1991. In 2010, the Turkish Cypriot Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports transferred the ownership of the stadium to the

Nicosia Turkish Municipality Nicosia Turkish Cypriot Municipality ( tr, Lefkoşa Türk Belediyesi) is the governing body of North Nicosia province of TRNC. It was established in 1958 and was recognized by Article 173 of the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus. After 1974 a ...

. It was renovated in 2011, with its grass being renewed and new electronic scoreboards installed. A shooting polygon was also unveiled in the stadium in 2014. As the first multi-purpose stadium in Northern Cyprus, the construction of the stadium resolved the lack of an appropriate track for the training of Turkish Cypriot athletes. In work that started on 22 September 2004, the athletics track of the stadium was reconstructed as a

Tartan track Tartan Track is a trademarked all-weather synthetic track surfacing made of polyurethane used for track and field competitions, manufactured by 3M. It lets athletes compete in bad weather without serious performance loss and improves their resu ...

. The stadium is considered to be the most prestigious in Northern Cyprus. It has a café, numerous broadcast rooms, a conference hall and a press conference hall. The stadium is the only one in Northern Cyprus with a continuous healthcare and ambulance presence in Süper Lig and Cypriot Cup matches.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lefkosa Ataturk Stadi Football venues in Northern Cyprus Multi-purpose stadiums in Cyprus Sport in Nicosia Buildings and structures in North Nicosia Things named after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk