The Batumi Stadium ( ka, ბათუმის სტადიონი, ''batumis st’adioni'') officially Adjarabet Arena ( ka, აჭარაბეთ არენა) for sponsorship reasons, is a
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 ...
stadium in
Batumi
Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
. The stadium has a capacity of 20,035 people.
History
Construction began in January 2018 and was completed in July 2020. Its inauguration, postponed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, took place on 27 October 2020 with an official ceremony. The ceremony was attended by then-Prime Minister of Georgia,
Giorgi Gakharia.
It has a capacity of 20,000 seats and hosts
FC Dinamo Batumi
FC Dinamo Batumi ( ka, საფეხბურთო კლუბი დინამო ბათუმი) is a Georgian professional football club based in Batumi, Adjara that competes in the Erovnuli Liga, the top division of the national f ...
's home matches. It is a
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
Category 4 Stadium and since 2021 has been occasionally hosting matches of the
Georgian national football team.
The stadium was designed by the Turkish firm ''Bahadır Kul Architecture'' and cost about 100 million
Georgian Laris (35 million
euros
The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...
).
The exterior of the stadium, consisting of a series of panels arranged in the form of overlapping scales that can be illuminated at night, is inspired by the swirling effect of traditional Georgian dances, in particular
Khorumi
The Khorumi ( ka, ხორუმი) is a war dance that originated in the region of Adjara, which is located in the southwestern region of Georgia. The dance was originally performed by only a few men. However, over time it has grown in scal ...
.
In 2023, it was one of four
Georgian venues to host the
2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
The 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2023) was the 24th edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (27th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth Association f ...
and hosted the final, where
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
defeated Spain 1-0.
Notable games
The first match was held on November 21, 2020, between
Dinamo Batumi and
Dila Gori.
On 10 July 2022, the
Georgian Rugby Team defeated
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
28–19. Batumi Stadium hosted this historical match, when Georgia defeated a first-tier team for the first time in
2022 summer series.
International games
See also
*
FC Dinamo Batumi
FC Dinamo Batumi ( ka, საფეხბურთო კლუბი დინამო ბათუმი) is a Georgian professional football club based in Batumi, Adjara that competes in the Erovnuli Liga, the top division of the national f ...
*
Stadiums in Georgia
*
List of European stadiums by capacity
This is a list of the largest stadiums in European countries. Stadiums with a capacity of 30,000 or more are included.
They are ordered by their audience capacity. The capacity figures are for each stadium's permanent total seating capacity.
C ...
References
2020 establishments in Georgia (country)
Buildings and structures in Batumi
Football venues in Georgia (country)
Sport in Batumi
Sports venues completed in 2020
Sports venues in Georgia (country)
{{Georgia-sports-venue-stub