Atatürk Olympic Stadium
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The Atatürk Olympic Stadium (, ) is a stadium in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
, Turkey. Located in the western district of BaÅŸakÅŸehir, it is the largest-capacity stadium in the country. The stadium is named after
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 â€“ 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...
, the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey. Its construction began in 1999 and was completed in 2002. It was originally built for Turkey's bid for the
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
that were ultimately awarded to
Beijing, China Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
. It cost about US$140 million. With its 77,563 ( all-seater) capacity and Olympic size, it was granted the "5-star sports complex" title by the
UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
in 2004, enabling it to host the finals of UEFA events. The
2005 UEFA Champions League Final The 2005 UEFA Champions League final was the final match of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, Europe's primary club Association football, football competition. The showpiece event was contested between Liverpo ...
between
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
and
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
was played at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium on 25 May 2005. The stadium is also certified by the
IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...
and IOC as a first-class venue for track and field, and has hosted several European athletic competitions. The stadium was originally scheduled to stage its second Champions League final between
Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...
and Bayern Munich on 30 May 2020, but following the
COVID-19 pandemic in Europe The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe with its first confirmed case in Bordeaux, France, on 24 January 2020, and subsequently spread widely across the continent. By 17 March 2020, every country in Europe had confirmed a case, and al ...
the match was postponed and later rescheduled to August at the Estádio da Luz in
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
,
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
behind closed doors; the stadium was then set to hold the 2021 final between
Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
and Chelsea instead, but the match was once again moved to Portugal, this time at the Estádio do Dragão in
Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...
. The stadium hosted the 2023 UEFA Champions League Final between
Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
and
Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...
.
Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...
football team Istanbul BB used the venue as their home stadium until they moved to the Başakşehir Fatih Terim Stadium in 2014. Galatasaray played its home games at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium during the 2003–2004 football season because their own venue, the Ali Sami Yen Stadium, was under renovation. Galatasaray eventually returned to Ali Sami Yen for the 2004–2005 season, but played 2006–2007
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
group stage matches at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium.
Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Net Global Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department has competed in Süper Lig since t ...
also played some of its
Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...
home games at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium due to bad weather conditions in their original hometown stadium.
BeÅŸiktaÅŸ BeÅŸiktaÅŸ () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...
used the arena in the 2013–14 season to play most of their home games, with the reasoning being the same as Galatasaray's, while their own stadium, the Vodafone Park, was under construction. Since their promotion to the Süper Lig in 2020, Fatih Karagümrük uses the stadium as its home.


Design and construction

Istanbul Atatürk Olympic Stadium was originally conceived for the city's 2008 Olympic Games bid. The stadium's two steel roofs (weighing 2,800 t and 1,300 t) were produced by Tekfen's Steel Structure Fabrication Plant in Ceyhan,
Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...
. The west roof, designed in the form of a crescent and principally composed of a 1,000 t main beam called mega-truss, is supported by two reinforced concrete shafts with 196 m span. With its 134 entrances and 148 exit gates, the Olympic Stadium allows 80,000 spectators to evacuate within 7.5 minutes, in case of an emergency. Two annex fields (for warm up / training purposes) are connected directly to the Olympic Stadium with a tunnel. The Olympic Stadium's technical infrastructure and design ensure optimal visibility from all stands; a homogeneous sound level (102 decibels) with modern speaker systems, and a 1,400 lux illumination covering all areas of the stadium. A 42,200 m2 commercial center is situated under the west roof, with a front facade length of 450 m and a total of 6 floors (3 floors below ground level.)


Renovations and events


2005 UEFA Champions League Final

From 2002 to 2005, the stadium had a capacity of 80,597 (all-seater). This was later reduced to 76,092 (all-seater) by removing the seats from where it was not possible to see the entire pitch, prior to the
2005 UEFA Champions League Final The 2005 UEFA Champions League final was the final match of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, Europe's primary club Association football, football competition. The showpiece event was contested between Liverpo ...
, the final match of Europe's primary club football competition in the 2004–05 season. The showpiece event (dubbed "The Miracle of Istanbul") was contested between
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
of
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
and
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
of
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
on 25 May 2005.


UEFA Euro 2016 plans

The stadium was part of the Turkish
UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's association football, football ch ...
bid. To meet all requirements of
UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
for being able to organise the championship, the authorities planned to take major reconstruction works on this stadium. It was planned to increase the stadium's capacity to over 90,000 spectators and making it to the world's largest stadium with every seat under cover. To increase the net and gross capacity to 81,106 and 94,555 respectively, the pitch would have been lowered by 2.15 metres. In order to provide better convenience for the VIP guests and the media, all existing hospitality areas at levels 3 and 4 would have been extended. Furthermore, 12 new boxes were planned to be added to the west stand and 32 to the east stand in order to add to the current number of 36 skyboxes; making a total of 80 skyboxes after the reconstruction.


2023 UEFA Champions League final

The 2020 UEFA Champions League Final was scheduled to be played at the stadium on 30 May 2020. However the final was postponed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Europe The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe with its first confirmed case in Bordeaux, France, on 24 January 2020, and subsequently spread widely across the continent. By 17 March 2020, every country in Europe had confirmed a case, and al ...
and later relocated to the Estádio da Luz,
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
. It was due to stage the following season's final, however this was relocated by UEFA on 13 May 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. On 16 July 2021, UEFA announced that the stadium is scheduled to host the 2023 UEFA Champions League final. On 10 June 2023, the match was played between English side
Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
and Italian side
Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...
. Manchester City won the match 1–0 to claim their first ever UEFA Champions League title.


UEFA Euro 2024 plans

For the UEFA Euro 2024 bid the
Turkish Football Federation The Turkish Football Federation (; TFF) is the governing body of association football in Turkey. It was formed on 23 April 1923, and joined FIFA the same year and UEFA in 1962. It organizes the Turkey national football team, the Turkish Foo ...
planned to rebuild the stadium. The stands would be closer to the pitch, making it a football stadium with a new capacity of 92,208 Because of the removal of the athletics track, Turkey plans a new Olympic stadium near to Bosphorus for prospects for a future Summer Olympics. The rebuild was made by Manchester-based British architecture company AFL Architects. Ultimately, the Euro 2024 tournament would be awarded to Germany instead.


UEFA Euro 2032 plans

For the
UEFA Euro 2032 The 2032 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2032 or simply Euro 2032, will be the 19th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international association football, football championship organised by UEFA fo ...
the
Turkish Football Federation The Turkish Football Federation (; TFF) is the governing body of association football in Turkey. It was formed on 23 April 1923, and joined FIFA the same year and UEFA in 1962. It organizes the Turkey national football team, the Turkish Foo ...
planned to renovate the stadium. The stands would be closer to the pitch, making it a football stadium with a new capacity of 72,000 It is expected to be lowered than its current capacity in time for that year as one of the ten Turkish venues in the Italian-Turkish joint bid. Ultimately, the Euro 2032 tournament would be awarded to Turkey along with Italy.


Concerts


U2 360° Tour

On 6 September 2010, the renowned Irish rock band U2 gave a sold-out concert at the stadium with 54,278 fans in attendance, as a part of their
U2 360° Tour The U2 360° Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the Irish rock music, rock band U2. Staged in support of the group's 2009 album ''No Line on the Horizon'', the tour visited stadiums from 2009 through 2011. The concerts featured the band pla ...
, the opening act of which was performed by the group
Snow Patrol Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland, consisting of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), and Johnny McDaid (piano, guitar, keyboards, backi ...
.


Records


See also

* List of football stadiums in Turkey * Istanbul bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics *
Lists of stadiums The following are lists of stadiums throughout the world. Note that horse racing and motorsport venues are not included at some pages, because those are not stadiums but sports venues. Combined lists *List of stadiums by capacity * List of c ...


References


External links


Official website

Stadium Guide Article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ataturk Olympic Stadium 2002 establishments in Turkey Başakşehir İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. Music venues in Istanbul
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
Sports venues completed in 2003 Sports venues in Istanbul Süper Lig venues