The Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium ( az, Tofiq Bəhramov adına Respublika Stadionu) is a multi-purpose stadium in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world an ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

. It is currently used mostly for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

matches. It served as the home ground for the

Azerbaijan national football team The Azerbaijan national football team ( az, Azərbaycan milli futbol komandası) is the national football team of Azerbaijan and is controlled by Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan. It represents Azerbaijan in international foot ...

until they moved to the Baku Olympic Stadium. It holds 31,200 seats making it the second largest stadium in the country. The stadium is also used by the

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League ( az, Azərbaycan Premyer Liqası) is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Azerbaijan football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is conteste ...

clubs in the final rounds of European competitions.

History

The Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium was built in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

. Its construction started before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in 1939, but was suspended. When its construction resumed, it was finished by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

. Initially the stadium was named after

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...

(1878–1953) and built in form of C (Cyrillic: Cтaлин). After the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1956 it was renamed after

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

(1870–1924) as a part of

de-Stalinization De-Stalinization (russian: десталинизация, translit=destalinizatsiya) comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension ...

. In 1993, the stadium was named after the famous football referee Tofiq Bahramov (1925–1993) who died in the same year. In 2011, the Presidential Reserve Fund of the State Budget of Azerbaijan for 2011 allocated $10 million for capital repairs and reconstruction of the stadium as it could be used as potential venue for

Eurovision Song Contest 2012 The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the with the song " Running Scared" by the duo Ell & Nikki. It was the first time Azerb ...

. During a reconstruction process, the number of seats were increased from 29870 to 31200 and the grass cover football stadium was properly renewed according to FİFA standards. In addition, the projectors which were used to light the stadium were also renewed with innovative and modern technologies. President

Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar oghlu Aliyev ( az, İlham Heydər oğlu Əliyev, ; born 24 December 1961) is the fourth president of Azerbaijan, serving in the post since 31 October 2003. The son and second child of the former Azerbaijani leader Heydar Aliyev, ...

attended the opening of the Tofig Bahramov Republican Stadium after major overhaul and reconstruction on 16 August 2012. The stadium was one of the venues for the group stages of the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. One Group A match, a semi-final and the final were played there.

Events

The

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

competitions of the

European Youth Olympic Festival The European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) is a biennial multi-sport event for youth (14 to 18 years old) athletes from the 50 member countries of the association of European Olympic Committees. The festival has a summer edition, held for the fi ...

( EYOF) was held at the stadium between July 22 and 27, 2019. The stadium also hosted

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In ...

2015 European Games The 2015 European Games, also known as Baku 2015 or Baku 2015 European Games ( az, Bakı 2015 Avropa Oyunları), were the inaugural edition of the European Games, an international multi-sport event for athletes representing the National Olympic ...

. Aside from sporting uses, several concerts have been played at Tofiq Bahramov, with such big names as

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular ...

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series '' In Living Color'', where she re ...

and

Tarkan Tarkan may refer to: People * Tarkan (name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Tarkan (singer) (born 1972), Turkish pop singer Other uses * Tarkhan, an ancient Turkic and Mongol nobility title * Tarkan (comics), a fiction ...

playing.

Concerts

Gallery

File:Tofiq Bahramov Stadium.jpg, Panorama of the stadium. File:Tofik Bakhramov Stadium from Satellite.png, The view of the stadium from satellite. File:Fans of Karabakh FK.jpg,

Qarabağ FK Qarabağ Futbol Klubu, commonly known as Qarabağ () is an Azerbaijani professional football club, based in Baku, that competes in the Azerbaijan Premier League, the top flight of Azerbaijani football. The club originates from Aghdam but has n ...

during the Europa League qualifier match. File:Azerbaijan flag, Qarabağ (AZE) - Saint Etienne (FRA) football match (4).jpg, Big flag of Azerbaijan during the Europa League group match.

References

{{2015 European Games venues Football venues in Baku Athletics (track and field) venues in Azerbaijan

Football venues in the Soviet Union Athletics (track and field) venues in the Soviet Union Sports venues completed in 1951 Neftçi PFK Multi-purpose stadiums in Azerbaijan 2015 European Games venues

History

Events

Concerts

Gallery

See also

References