Baku Olympic Stadium

Baku Olympic Stadium (Azerbaijani:Bakı Olimpiya Stadionu), is a 68,700-seat stadium, designed and constructed to meet the international standards for stadiums set by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It is the largest stadium in Azerbaijan.

Construction of the 225,000-square-meter stadium on a 650,000-square-meter site was completed in February 2015. The six-storey, 65.7 meter structure near Boyukshor Lake, Baku, Azerbaijan, opened on 6 March 2015. The main tenant of the stadium is Azerbaijan's national football team, who moved from their previous home at the Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium. In June 2015 the stadium served as the main venue for the European Games, hosting the opening and closing ceremonies, and the athletic games. The venue is intended to host the quarterfinals and three of the group games for UEFA Euro 2020. A green area is being developed around the stadium, which is accessible via public transport.

History

The foundation ceremony

The foundation of the Baku Olympic Stadium was laid on June 6, 2011 in a ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of Azerbaijani football.

The ceremony was attended by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and his spouse Mehriban Aliyeva, FIFA President Sepp Blatter, UEFA President Michel Platini, prominent members of the global football community, heads of various federations, football veterans and other guests. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was informed about the future plans for the construction of the stadium. Speaking at the ceremony, FIFA President Sepp Blatter said:

"This is really beautiful, grand building, and more than 60 thousand football fans coming to the stadium will be able to enjoy football."

Ilham Aliyev placed a symbolic metal capsule inside a football. His son Heydar Aliyev, scoring a goal in a symbolic gate, dropped the ball into the foundation. The President, with Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, operated a switch starting the concrete pour, and signed a football, which was preserved in memory of the ceremony.

Construction

Despite the groundbreaking ceremony taking place in 2011, the construction of the stadium started only in November 2012 with the excavation and backfilling of the stadium area. The stadium was completed on February 28, 2015, and the opening took place on March 6, 2015. President Ilham Aliyev participated in the opening ceremony.

The total layout of the stadium is 617,000m² and has a capacity for 68,000 people. It is six stories tall.

Baku was ready to host the first European Games in 2015. The Olympic Stadium Project was seen as the most important and prestigious project undertaken by Azerbaijan for the games. Main stadium layout area is 87,000m², total confined space 215,000 m², Maximum Height from ground 60m².

The project was funded by the SOCAR. A Turkish company Tekfen Construction and Installation Co.,Inc, were given a design & build contract.

Along with the stadium, there were built a number of hotels, a parking venue (3,617 car places), and green space (81,574 square meters).

Stadium contains VVIP, VIP - CIP Suites total 127 each with 720 spectators capacity, total interior special area of 25,200m² and total car parking capacity for 3,078 cars. 1,800 seating capacity warm up area, MEP Building, information centre and two external buildings are other building of the Project.

Text imported from Wikipedia article "Baku Olympic Stadium" and modified on 02 June 2020 according to the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.