The Pankritio Stadium (, ''Pagkritio Stadio'', literally: ''Pancretan Stadium'') is a multi-purpose sports

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 ...

located in

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

on the island of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

. It was completed on 31 December 2003, and officially opened on 11 August 2004. As one of the most modern sports venues in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

at the time, it was used as one of the

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 ...

venues to host matches of the 2004 Summer Olympic football tournament. It has a capacity of 26,240 seats, and was the home ground of local association football clubs Ergotelis. It also serves as

OFI Crete OFI Football Club (, ''Heraklion Sportsmen Club 1925 FC''), commonly referred to as OFI, is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Heraklion, on the island of Crete. It is part of the O.F.I. (sports club), OFI mul ...

FC's home stadium (starting from the 2025-26 season onwards) and also consists of one of Greece national team's home grounds.

Location

The Pankritio Stadium is located in

, at the Lido district to the west of the city center. It has been built about 50 meters from the island coast, and is neighbored by the Lido Indoor Hall and the city's outdoor pool venue, of which the whole district is named after (Lido).

History

The stadium broke ground sometime during the late 80s, however construction work was not completed on time, and was eventually indefinitely postponed. Once

won the bid to host the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, construction of the stadium was finally picked up once again in 2001. It was eventually completed on 31 December 2003. The total construction cost was estimated at €50,000,000. The new stadium was officially opened on 11 August 2004, to host an international

friendly game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

between

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Due to its size, age and ranking, the Pankritio was selected as one of the football venues of the 2004 Summer Olympics Football Tournament, hosting in total 10 matches (5 men's Group Stage matches, 2 women's Group Stage matches, one men's Quarterfinals match, one women's Quarterfinals match and one women's Semi-Final match). After the tournament, the stadium was rented out, and has since been used as a training and home ground of the city's

club Ergotelis, and occasionally also by

. In 2006, the Pankritio hosted the 2005–06 Greek Cup Final, the first to be played in

since 1931. Although primarily considered a

stadium, the Pankritio, has also been used to host major athletics events, such as the 2004 Tsiklitiria annual IAAF World Challenge meeting and the

2015 European Team Championships The sixth European Athletics Team Championships took place on 20 and 21 June 2015. Super League Place: Central Stadium, Cheboksary, Russia Participating countries * * * * * * * * * * * * * Belarus, Finland and Norway were promoted from 2014 F ...

First League. The stadium has also been used for a number of music concerts, most notably hosting

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

and Vasilis Papakonstantinou on May 6, 2011. In 2015 parts of the stadium's west-side roof were detached following a major wind storm affecting Crete. Eventually the roof would be detached completely for safety reasons. In 2021, the roof was re-attached, however in 2024 the stadium was closed temporarily following another roof detachment, this time at the east side of the stadium. In 2025, renovation works began at the stadium in light of upcoming friendly matches hosted by the Greek national football team, to meet the highest UEFA category standards, consisting of 50 VIP seats, the addition of extra low energy lights, new sets of railings of different sizes will be installed, and overall exterior rejuvenation.

Facilities

The Pankritio Stadium sports complex features in total two football grounds built to international standards (main stadium and training ground), an 8-lane track, an auxiliary 6-lane track, an indoor gym and swimming pool, multi-purpose halls for

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

, and tae kwon do, a rowing simulator and a physiotherapy room with sauna and hot tub. Additionally, the stadium features seminar meeting rooms, a dining room, and a showroom featuring exhibits from the

and 2011 Special Olympics. The complex is neighbored by the city's outdoor swimming pool and the Lido Indoor Hall.

Tenants

The stadium has been used as the home ground of

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

football team Ergotelis, since its opening in 2004, as their traditional home turf Nikos Kazantzakis Stadium was declared unfit for use in official matches at any level of the

Greek football league system The Greek football league system consists of two professional leagues, one nationwide non-professional league and several regional non-professional leagues. Cup eligibility Greek Football Professional Cup: Levels 1 to 2 Greek Football Ama ...

since 2004. Between 2006 and 2009, the stadium was also used by Ergotelis' rival OFI, until their original home ground, Theodoros Vardinogiannis Stadium, upgrade was done. However, in 2025, given the constant reduction of usable spectator capacity due to safety issues, Pankritio will indefinitely serve as OFI's home starting from the 2025-26 season. On occasion, the Pankritio has also hosted home games of the

, notably attracting large numbers of spectators from all over the

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

Records

The stadium attendance record and first ever sold-out event was set on 20 February 2005, in a Superleague match between Ergotelis and reigning champions Olympiacos with 27,950 tickets being sold. The result was a 2−1 victory for the home team.

2004 Summer Olympics

Pankritio Stadium hosted six games of the men's football tournament at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and four games of the women's Olympic Football tournament.

Men's tournament

Women's tournament

References

External links

Olympicproperties.gr profile
{{Olympic venues football Sports venues completed in 2003 Sports venues in Crete Football venues in Greece Venues of the 2004 Summer Olympics Buildings and structures in Heraklion Multi-purpose stadiums in Greece Athletics (track and field) venues in Greece