The Majuro Track and Field Stadium is a 2,000-capacity Olympic-grade

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

Majuro Majuro (; Marshallese language, Marshallese: ' ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Marshall Islands. It is also a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean. It forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain, Ratak ( ...

, the capital of the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...

. It is mostly used for

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

events. The structure also serves as a large

seawall A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation, ...

in the densely populated part of Majuro which has become inundated with seawater through the effects of

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

, particularly during

king tide A king tide is an especially high spring tide, especially the perigean spring tides which occur three or four times a year. King tide is not a scientific term, nor is it used in a scientific context. The expression originated in Australia, Ne ...

. Some football matches at the Majuro Track and Field Stadium took place in front of at least 100 people.

History

The stadium was originally designed as a venue for the 2023 Micronesian Games. After negotiations with local landowners, a groundbreaking ceremony was held in early May 2019. Pacific International, Inc was selected as contractor with a projected cost of $6 million (

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

). Construction was anticipated to take 18 to 20 months to complete. Funding assistance for the project was provided by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. By July 2020 the

land reclamation Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lake ...

project on the 10-acre piece of property was nearly complete, with an anticipated finish of mid to late 2021. However, at that time it was announced that the tournament could be delayed to 2023 because of the ongoing

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 ...

. In November 2021 it was confirmed that the tournament would be delayed, partially because of the effects of the pandemic on border controls which affected the availability of specialized contractors and shipping of necessary construction materials, supplies, and equipment needed to complete the facility. By November 2021 reclamation projects were complete and structural construction had advanced. In April 2022 Marshall Islanders were invited to the stadium for the first time for Majuro’s 78th Liberation Day celebration. The athletic track and separate baseball facility were not yet completed. In January 2023 the president of the

Marshall Islands Soccer Federation The Marshall Islands Soccer Federation is the governing body of soccer in the Marshall Islands. Marshall Islands is not a member of its regional body, the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), or FIFA, but is working on becoming one. The federat ...

stated that stadium construction was ahead of schedule for its official opening. He also stated that the stadium was a vital piece of infrastructure for the association’s plans to join the

Oceania Football Confederation The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six continental confederations of international association football. The OFC has 13 members, 11 of which are full members and two which are associate members not affiliated with FIFA. It ...

and

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Construction update videosRenderings and construction photos of the stadium
National stadiums Majuro Buildings and structures in the Marshall Islands Sports venues in the Marshall Islands Soccer venues in the Marshall Islands

History

See also

References

External links