Addis Ababa Stadium is a

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

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the Er ...

. It is used mostly for football matches although it also has athletics facilities. The stadium has a capacity of 35,000 people.

History

Addis Ababa Stadium was constructed in 1940 in the Italian ruled Addis Ababa. It hosted several matches during the 1962,

1968 The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...

and

1976 African Cup of Nations The 1976 African Cup of Nations was the tenth edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the soccer championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Ethiopia. The format of competition changed from 1974: the field of eight teams was still split into tw ...

, including the final of the 1962 (won by Ethiopia over the United Arab Republic) and 1968 editions and the final group stage of the 1976 tournament. Later in 1999, it was renovated for the 2001 CAF African Youth Championship held in Ethiopia. In this championship, the Ethiopia's National Youth team came fourth. The Ethiopian youth team thereby qualified for the first time for the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship that took place in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

. Addis Ababa Stadium is located at the heart of Addis Ababa near Legehar train station and Meskel Square. The stadium hosts both international soccer and athletics competitions. Great athletes like the legendary

Abebe Bikila ''Shambel'' Abebe Bikila ( am, ሻምበል አበበ ቢቂላ; August 7, 1932 – October 25, 1973) was an Ethiopian marathon runner who was a back-to-back Olympic marathon champion. He is the first Ethiopian Olympic gold medalist, winnin ...

and Haile Gebrselassie have competed at the stadium. According to

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

certification, Addis Ababa stadium has Class II certificate for its athletics facilities. Between 30 April and 4 May 2008, Addis Ababa Stadium hosted the 16th African Athletics Championships.

Stands

The small section immediately to the right of the main stand was called "Kemeneshe" while the stand in the right corner of the stadium was called "Abebe Bikila" due to the fact that there was a shop with the same name under stands on the exterior side. The stands to the left of the main stand was called "Fasika Ber", named after advertisements displayed in this section of the stadium. The section immediately to the left of this was called "Tesera". The stands opposite of the main stand are historically known as "Katanga", alluding to the military personnel that used to sit in these stands after returning from peace keeping missions in Katanga, DRC. The stadium has 12 entrance tunnels.

Future

Renovations

In January 2021, the sport commission of the stadium signed an agreement for design, consultation and management of renovations to the stadium.

New Stadium

Construction on a new FIFA and Olympic-standard 60,000 seat

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

is due in 2019.

LAVA Lava is molten or partially molten rock ( magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or ...

, DESIGNSPORT and local Ethiopian firm JDAW won the international competition held by the Federal Sport Commission, Ethiopia to design the stadium and sports village. The design combines local identity, such as rock cut architecture and the massob basket, with new technology. The stadium is being built by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation.

References

External links

worldstadiums.comPhotos at cafe.daum.net/stade
a
fussballtempel.netPhotos at StadiumZone
{{Ethiopia national football team Athletics (track and field) venues in Ethiopia Football venues in Addis Ababa Multi-purpose stadiums in Ethiopia

Sport in Addis Ababa Buildings and structures in Addis Ababa