Nicosia Atatürk Stadium () is a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used for multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a design philosophy that stres ...

North Nicosia North Nicosia or Northern Nicosia ( ; ) refers to the largest settlement and the ''de facto'' capital of Northern Cyprus. It is the northern part of the divided city of Nicosia, and is governed by the Nicosia Turkish Municipality. , North Nicos ...

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, island of Cyprus. It is List of states with limited recognition, recognis ...

. 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, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

matches and hosted some matches for the 2006 ELF Cup. It also serves as the home of Çetinkaya and Yenicami of the

KTFF Süper Lig The KTFF Süper Lig (English: CTFA Super League), officially the AKSA Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, formerly known as the Birinci Lig ( literally ''First League''), is the top football league in Northern Cyprus. The league was founded in ...

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. The original production was in 1967, and the product was later reformulated to eliminate the u ...

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

national holidays National holiday may refer to: *General strike, a mass work stoppage as part of an industrial dispute *National day, a day when a nation celebrates a very important event in its history, such as its establishment *Public holiday, a holiday establish ...

, 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 a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 177 km2 and its population is 350,454 (2022). It is on the northeastern part of Istanbul's European side. Sarıyer al ...

, 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, Minister of Sports Günay Caymaz, and Turkish ministers Mehmet Yazar and İsmet Özarslan.

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () 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 ...

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

and

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

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 Municipality () 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 and the Turkish invasion of Cyprus ...

. 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. The original production was in 1967, and the product was later reformulated to eliminate the u ...

. 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