Sugathadasa Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. It is currently used 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 ...

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

union, and

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 ...

. The stadium holds 25,000 people and has an on-site hotel.

History

The concept of an outdoor sporting stadium was initially raised by

V. A. Sugathadasa Vithana Arachchige Sugathadasa, OBE (7 July 1912 – 10 July 1973) was a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the first Minister of Sports and twice as the Mayor of Colombo. Early life Born to a wealthy business family, he had two siblings. ...

, the

Mayor of Colombo The Mayor of Colombo is the Mayor (and head) of the Colombo Municipal Council. The post was created in 1866 when the Colombo Municipal Council was established by the Legislative Council of Ceylon. The Mayor is assisted by the Deputy Mayor and a ...

(1956–57, 1963–65), the country's first

Minister of Sports A minister of sport (or sports minister) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with sports. Minister of Sport may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism and Sports (Argentina) * Minister for Sport (Australia) * Mini ...

(1966–70) and Chairman of the National Olympic and Commonwealth Games Committee. Construction of the stadium commenced on 16 January 1957 and was completed on 16 December 1962. The stadium was named after Sugathadasa, as he donated the land it was built on. In 1991, an indoor stadium was constructed on the site by the Mitsui Company for the 1991 South Asian Games.

Stadium usage

The 1991 and

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

South Asian Games The South Asian Games (SAG or SA Games), formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games (SAFG or SAF Games), is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic ...

were held in Sugathadasa Stadium. It also hosted the majority of matches for the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup. The 2010

IIFA Awards The International Indian Film Academy Awards, popularly known as IIFA, is an annual awards ceremony for Bollywood. Produced by Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, the winners of the awards are decided by fans, who vote online for th ...

took place here. In 2012, the stadium was home to the

Elite Football League of India The Elite Football League of India (EFLI) is a professional American football league based in India. It was founded with eight franchises in 2011, and now has 23 franchises throughout South Asia, among whom 20 located in India, two in Sri Lanka ...

. In 2002 it hosted the Asian Athletics Championships.

Track

The track was first laid in around 1989 and relaid again 1996. In 2002 Rekortan track was laid, which was then relaid in 2012 by the Ministry of Sports however the track failed within two years and currently Sri Lankan athletes were lacking an international track to practice for international meets. In 2017 the

, Dayasiri Jayasekara, announced the track would be relaid and was expected to open back to athletes in December 2017. The Sugathadasa Authority took actions to relay the Track again in 2018 and it was reopened to the athletes with IAAF Certified Track and Field Facilities.

References

External links

World Stadiums entry
Football venues in Sri Lanka Athletics (track and field) venues in Sri Lanka Multi-purpose stadiums in Sri Lanka Sports venues in Colombo American football venues in Asia 1962 establishments in Ceylon Sports venues completed in 1962 {{SriLanka-sports-venue-stub