The O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall (honorarily named ''Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall'' since 2016), which is a part of the Olympic Athletic Center of Athens (O.A.C.A.) « Spyros Louis» ( el, O.A.K.A. «Σπύρος Λούης»), was completed in 1995, and was the largest indoor venue in use for sporting events at the 2004 Summer Olympics in

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. It is located in Marousi,

. It is considered to be one of the biggest and most modern indoor sports arenas in all of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. The 19,250-capacity arena also contains a training facility. Since 2016, it has been named after the well-known

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player of Panathinaikos and

Aris Thessaloniki Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki
...

Nikos Galis Nikolaos Georgalis ( el, Νικόλαος Γεωργαλής; born July 23, 1957), commonly known as either Nikos Galis ( el, Νίκος Γκάλης), or Nick Galis, is a retired Greek professional basketball player. Galis, who during his playin ...

Construction

Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall is notable for its distinctive

A-frame An A-frame is a basic structure designed to bear a load in a lightweight economical manner. The simplest form of an A-frame is two similarly sized beams, arranged in an angle of 45 degrees or less, attached at the top, like an uppercase lette ...

roof that features four huge pillars, each of which is 35 meters tall, that stand 108 meters apart from each other. According to the Greek Ministry of Sports, it is the largest indoor sporting arena of its kind in the world. The arena is also constructed in a unique way so that an abundant amount of natural light comes into the arena during the day. The arena seats up to 17,600 for

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

events, although only 12,500 seats were made publicly available for the gymnastics competition at the 2004 Olympics. It seats up to 18,989 for

games, which includes 18,500 regular seats for the fans, 300 seats for the media members, and 189 seats for VIPs. A large scale arena renovation was completed in 2004, for the 2004 Summer Olympics. The arena was then renovated again in 2016.

2004 Summer Olympics

The

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

was used for

artistic gymnastics Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

and

trampolining Trampolining or trampoline gymnastics is a competitive Olympic sport in which athletes perform acrobatics while bouncing on a trampoline. In competition, these can include simple jumps in the straight, pike, tuck, or straddle position to more co ...

, and also hosted the finals of the

matches at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Renovation of the building for the Olympics was completed on 30 June 2004, and it was officially reopened on 10 August 2004, shortly before the beginning of the games.

Basketball use

The Indoor Hall is the regular home court for the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

professional

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

Panathinaikos. It is also the primary home court of the senior

Greek National Basketball Team The Greece men's national basketball team ( el, Eθνική Oμάδα Καλαθοσφαίρισης Ελλάδος) represents Greece in international basketball. They are controlled by the Hellenic Basketball Federation, the governing body for ...

. The arena was used to host the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals stages of the

1998 FIBA World Championship The 1998 FIBA World Championship was the 13th FIBA World Championship, an international basketball tournament held by the International Basketball Federation and hosted in Greece from 29 July to 9 August 1998. The tournament was contested by 16 n ...

. In addition, it was used as home court of Maroussi B.C. in some European games. On 4 and 6 May 2007, the Indoor Hall hosted the EuroLeague 2006–07 season's Final Four, the semifinals and

finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

rounds of Europe's principal pro club competition in basketball, which saw hometown favourite Panathinaikos win the title. On 9 December 2007, FIBA announced that the Olympic Indoor Hall was selected as the host of the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2008, 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for the Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament, 2008 Summer Olympic Games. At the qualifying tournament, hosts and favourites Greece national basketball team, Greece, along with the Germany national basketball team, German and Croatia men's national basketball team, Croatian national basketball teams, qualified for the final 2008 Olympic Basketball Tournament. On 5 April 2018, the Indoor Hall was announced as the venue of the 2018 Basketball Champions League Final Four, during which AEK BC, AEK Athens served as host. On 19 May 2022, the Greek government and

club Panathinaikos reached an agreement for the exclusive use of the OAKA Indoor Hall by the Panathinaikos B.C., "Greens". The arena, along with its auxiliary facilities, will be granted from 2023 for the next 49 years to Panathinaikos, with the club bearing its maintenance and operating costs. Both the Politics of Greece, Greek state and Panathinaikos have expressed the wish so as the Greece national basketball team, Greek national basketball team continues to use the OAKA Indoor Hall as their home court.

Musical events

On 18 and 20 May 2006, the Hall hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, 51st Eurovision Song Contest, that was held in

, after Greece's victory at the Song Contest in 2005. There were 15,000 seats available for spectators, both for the semifinal and the grand final. Some of the entertainers who have performed at the arena include Maluma (singer), Maluma, Pearl Jam, Enrique Iglesias, Depeche Mode, Jennifer Lopez, Björk, Beyoncé Knowles, Beyoncé, Slayer, Shakira, Roger Waters, Aloha from Hell, Tokio Hotel, Helena Paparizou, Sakis Rouvas and Anna Vissi.

References

External links