The Agia Sophia Stadium (), also known by its commercial name OPAP Arena, is the home stadium of

AEK Athens FC AEK FC ( el, ΠΑΕ A.E.K. ; Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; ''Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos'', meaning ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a Greek professional football club based in Nea Filad ...

. With an all-seater capacity of 32,500, it is the largest football-only stadium and the second largest football stadium overall in Greece. It is located in

Nea Filadelfeia Nea Filadelfeia ( el, Νέα Φιλαδέλφεια, meaning ''New Philadelphia'') is a suburb of Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Filadelfeia-Chalkidona, of which it is the seat and a municip ...

, a northwestern suburb of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Greece. Built in 2022 on the site of

Nikos Goumas Stadium Nikos Goumas Stadium ( el, Στάδιο Νίκος Γκούμας) was a multi-purpose stadium in Nea Filadelfeia, a northwestern suburb of Athens, Greece. It was used mostly for football matches and was the home stadium of AEK Athens F.C. It is ...

, the former ground of the club, the stadium is the most contemporary stadium in Greece.

Name

The stadium holds a founding and a commercial name. The founding name of the stadium is Agia Sophia, chosen after the

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, formerly a

Greek Orthodox church The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also call ...

. The name highlights the significant cultural roots of

AEK A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelf ...

and its founders from Constantinople. The commercial name of the stadium, OPAP Arena, was picked after OPAP – Greek Organisation of Football Prognostics S.A. secured the name right for five years, starting from 2022.

History

In 1926, land in

that was originally set aside for refugee housing was donated as a training ground for the Greek refugees. A stadium was built at the site in 1930, named "Nikos Goumas", and became the home ground of

. In 2003, Giannis Granitsas, President of

at the time, decided to demolish the stadium and build a new stadium at

, as he claimed that the stadium was seriously damaged from the

1999 Athens earthquake The 1999 Athens earthquake occurred on September 7 at near Mount Parnitha in Greece with a moment magnitude of 6.0 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent''). The proximity to the Athens metropolitan area resulted in widespread stru ...

. His plan was to build a new stadium at the same site, which would include also a basketball indoor hall and a mall. The goal was for the stadium to be ready until the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. However, shortly after the construction of the new stadium were halted by the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

, which decided that the construction plans of the stadium were contrary to the

Constitution of Greece The Constitution of Greece ( el, Σύνταγμα της Ελλάδας, Syntagma tis Elladas) was created by the Fifth Revisionary Parliament of the Hellenes in 1974, after the fall of the Greek military junta and the start of the Third Hellen ...

. In 2005,

Dimitris Melissanidis Dimitris Melissanidis (Greek: Δημήτρης Μελισσανίδης; born 8 March 1951) is a Greek business shipping and oil tycoon who is one of Greece's most successful businessmen. He is the current owner of AEK Athens Football Club. He ...

was a candidate for the presidency of

, and presented a plan for the construction of a stadium at the area of Nikos Goumas, bearing the name Hagia Sophia. However, he lost the elections. In 2007,

's president

Demis Nikolaidis Themistoklis "Demis" Nikolaidis ( el, Ντέμης Νικολαΐδης; born 17 September 1973) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was the forty second president of AEK Athens, and is considered one of the fi ...

was developing a project to build a 50,000 capacity stadium at

Ano Liosia Ano Liosia ( el, Άνω Λιόσια) is a suburb and a former municipality in the northern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Fyli, of which it is the seat and a munici ...

. The plan was cancelled due to lack of fan support and lack of funds. After the bankruptcy and relegation of

in 2013, Dimitris Melissanidis took up the reorganization of the club and recovered the plan of Hagia Sophia in a press conference held at 10 July 2013. The first presentation of the stadium took place on 2 October 2013 in the Miltos Kountouras hall at the

Nea Filadelfia Nea Filadelfeia ( el, Νέα Φιλαδέλφεια, meaning ''New Philadelphia'') is a suburb of Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Filadelfeia-Chalkidona, of which it is the seat and a municip ...

High School. The project manager of the stadium Dimitris Andriopoulos announced the first features and facilities. The stadium will fulfill the criteria to be a four category in the

UEFA stadium categories UEFA stadium categories are categories for association football, football stadiums laid out in UEFA's Stadium Infrastructure Regulations. Using these regulations, stadiums are rated as category one, two, three, or four (renamed from elite) in asce ...

, it will have capacity of 32,500 and will have 40 suites. There will be a museum about the

Greek refugees Greek refugees is a collective term used to refer to the more than one million Greek Orthodox natives of Asia Minor, Thrace and the Black Sea areas who fled during the Greek genocide (1914-1923) and Greece's later defeat in the Greco-Turkish War ...

who left from

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

in 1922. It will offer 1,500–2,000 jobs during its construction and 250 - 400 permanent jobs when it will be constructed. The stadium's construction was expected to begin in 2014 and finish by 2015. The first images of the stadium were also exposed. The stadium is designed after the

Walls of Constantinople The Walls of Constantinople ( el, Τείχη της Κωνσταντινουπόλεως) are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (today Istanbul in Turkey) since its founding as the ...

where the club is originated from, and it will resemble a castle from the outside. The grand presentation of the stadium took place on 6 November 2013 at the Onassis Cultural Center in Athens, which will contribute financially to the construction of the stadium. A symbolic fund was also donated by the

Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...

. Technical information about the stadium were presented and its facilities were illustrated in a 20-minute video. On 2 January 2015, the municipality of

Filadelfeia-Chalkidona Filadelfeia-Chalkidona ( el, Φιλαδέλφεια-Χαλκηδόνα) is a municipality in the Central Athens regional unit, Attica, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Nea Filadelfeia. The municipality has an area of 3.650 km2. Mu ...

filed a complaint at the

against the decision of the management of forests of administration of Athens, that allocates 0.6 hectares from the Grove of Nea Filadelfeia. Also, 17 citizens of the municipality of

filed a complaint on 1 December 2014 about the same matter. The case was heard at the

on 6 March 2015. The decision was issued on 5 June 2015, and it rejected the claims of the municipality and the citizens as unsubstantive and obscure. The plan for the building of the stadium was released in public consultation by the

Ministry of Productive Reconstruction, Environment and Energy The Ministry of the Environment and Energy ( el, Υπουργείο Περιβάλλοντος και Ενέργειας) is a government department of Greece responsible for environmental and energy policy. It was created on 7 October 2009 as th ...

on 22 July. The process would be completed in 45 days. The municipality of

filed an application for an extension of the public consultation for an extra 45 days, which was accepted. The consultation was finally concluded on 24 November 2015. On 28 January 2016, the meeting of the Administrative Regiοn of Attica approved the Study of Environmental Impact of the project. The minister of Environment and Energy,

Panos Skourletis Panagiotis ("Panos") Skourletis ( el, Παναγιώτης ("Πάνος") Σκουρλέτης; born 1 January 1962 in Athens) is a Greek politician of the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA). He served as the Minister of Productive Reconstr ...

, signed the Study of Environmental impact of the stadium on 31 March 2016. The planning permission was acquired from the Ministry of Environment on 25 July 2017.

Funding

The net construction cost is estimated around

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

81,700,000. The funding will be completed in three stages. The first phase of construction will cost

25,000,000; the second phase

20,000,000 and the third

14,700,000. The Administrative region of Attica will fund the stadium with

20,000,000. The sum left will be funded by Dikefalos 1924, a company that was founded for the construction of the stadium.

Construction

The construction of the stadium began with earthworks on 28 July 2017. The first phase of construction consisted of excavations and retaining works, which according to the initial planning would last for 5 months. Eventually, the first phase was completed on 5 December 2017. On 6 February 2018, it was announced that the company «ERMONASSA SA» would undertake the completion of the second phase regarding the construction of the stadium. These include, according to the official announcement, the remaining earthworks, the reinforced concrete main structure of the stadium, the construction of the concrete reinforced and prestressed pillars, and finally the construction and installation of the stands. The completion of this phase is planned to last 14 months. The works began on 12 February 2018. The third and final phase started on 30 March 2020 and was completed in early September 2022.

Opening

The stadium's opening ceremony took place on 30 September 2022. More than 30.000 people attended the ceremony. AEK Athens won Ionikos 4–1 in their new stadium opening game on 3 October 2022, a game conducted for the sixth fixture of the 2022–23

Greek Super League The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

Facilities

Agia Sophia stadium offers the following facilities, amenities and attractions. * A small church of

Hosios Loukas Hosios Loukas ( el, Ὅσιος Λουκᾶς) is a historic walled monastery situated near the town of Distomo, in Boeotia, Greece. Founded in the mid-10th century, the monastery is one of the most important monuments of Middle Byzantine archite ...

, in honour of

former president

Loukas Barlos Loukas Barlos ( el, Λουκάς Μπάρλος; 1920 – 20 October 1999) was a Greek businessman who served as the twenty third president of AEK Athens F.C. from 1974 until 1981. Early life Barlos was born and raised in Thessaloniki, but his p ...

* Double dressing rooms for tournaments * 32,500 capacity * Conference room * VIP Entrance * VIP Area * VVIP Members Club * Cigar Lounge * 40 suites * Executive suite * AEK Boutique *

History Museum * Museum of

Greek Refugees Greek refugees is a collective term used to refer to the more than one million Greek Orthodox natives of Asia Minor, Thrace and the Black Sea areas who fled during the Greek genocide (1914-1923) and Greece's later defeat in the Greco-Turkish War ...

OPAP OPAP – Greek Organisation of Football Prognostics S.A. ( el, ΟΠΑΠ – Οργανισμός Προγνωστικών Αγώνων Ποδοσφαίρου Α.Ε.) is a Greek company organizing and conducting games of chance. It is headquarter ...

betting shop * Panoramic view restaurant * Traditional coffee shop * Traditional shoe shop & locksmith * Double-headed eagle statue (stadium main entrance)

Record

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" , - ! Team ! Competition ! Games ! Wins ! Draws ! Losses , - , rowspan="6",

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club based in Nea ...

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

, 4 , 4 , 0 , 0 , - ,

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most im ...

, 1 , 1 , 0 , 0 , - ,

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

, 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , - , Total , 5 , 5 , 0 , 0 , -

Opening game

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;margin-left:1em" ! Date ! Attendance ! Score ! Competition ! Opponent , - , 3 October 2022 , 31,100 , 4–1 ,

, Ionikos

References

External links

* Agia Sophia Stadium o
agiasofia.today
{{Portal bar, Europe, Greece, Association football, Architecture Sports venues in Athens Football venues in Greece Multi-purpose stadiums in Greece AEK Athens F.C.