The Alphamega Stadium, also known as Limassol Stadium for

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competitions, is a

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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 completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

Kolossi Kolossi ( []) is a village on the outskirts of Limassol, Cyprus. It lies partly in the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia. Its population in 2011 was 5,651. References Geography of Akrotiri and Dhekelia Communities in Limasso ...

Limassol District The Limassol District, or simply Limassol or Lemesos, is one of the six districts of Cyprus. , it had a population of 262,238, 75,7% of which was urban The district's capital city is Limassol. Part of the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri an ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, and the home ground of the 3 biggest clubs of Limassol

Apollon Apollon may refer to: * Apollo, ancient Greek god of light, healing and poetry * Apollon (Formula One), Formula One constructor * Apollon Kalamarias, Greek football club * Apollon Smyrnis F.C., a Greek football club from Athens * Apollon Pontou F ...

, AEL and

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect * ...

. With an all-seater capacity of 11,000, it is the second largest football-only stadium and the fifth largest football stadium overall in Cyprus.

Name

The official name of the stadium is Alphamega Stadium. This name resulted from a sponsorship collaboration between the stadium management company and C.A. Papaellinas Emporiki Ltd, the company which owns and manages Alphamega Hypermarkets, for the use of the supermarket's name as the stadium's trade name until the end of the 2027–28 domestic league season.

History

Initially, the stadium would be built by AEL and Aris on the same site which had been given to the two teams in previous years. The two teams chose the architect Petros Kontaridis, who prepared the plans for the stadium. After the financial crisis of 2013, Apollon agreed to build a stadium together with the other two teams and the plans were modified. Due to the increased costs that the teams could not bear but also due to the fact that the existing

Tsirio Stadium The Tsirio Stadium () is an all-seater multi-purpose stadium in Limassol, Cyprus. The stadium holds 13,331 people and is mostly used for football matches. It was the home ground of the three biggest clubs in Limassol, which have now moved to the ...

had several problems and the city needed a new stadium, the CSO decided to finance the project. However, as the project would not be state-owned but would belong to other users and would exceed €15 million in funding, this funding had to be approved by the

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of the

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. The Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission considered this funding illegal because the stadium would belong to the teams, thus resulting in preferential treatment by the state for these teams at the expense of other teams. For this reason, the land was transferred to the CSO, which took over the financing of the project and the ownership of the stadium. The CSO granted the management of the stadium to the three teams. The signatures of the construction contracts between the CSO and the Cyfield – Neophytou J.V. joint venture, which undertook to build the stadium, took place on 4 January 2019. The construction of the stadium began on 28 January 2019. The official inauguration of the Alphamega Stadium took place on 25 November 2022. The first match was played on 15 December 2022 between Apollon and Doxa Katokopias for the 15th matchday of the

2022–23 Cypriot First Division The 2022–23 Cypriot First Division was the 84th season of the Cypriot top-level football league. Competition system 14 teams participated in the 2022–23 First Division. It was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, all teams played e ...

. Apollon won the match with 1–0 score. The first goal which was achieved in the Alphamega Stadium was scored by

Khaled Adénon Abdoul Khaled Akiola Adénon (born 29 July 1985) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender (association football), defender for Cypriot First Division club Doxa Katokopias FC, Doxa Katokopias. Born in Ivory Coast, he is a member of t ...

as an

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References

{{Major Stadiums and Indoor arenas in Cyprus Football venues in Cyprus Sports venues in Cyprus Sport in Limassol Sports venues completed in 2022 Buildings and structures in Limassol 2022 establishments in Cyprus