Sarawak Stadium is a

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 ...

Kuching Kuching ( , ), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak Ri ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. It is currently used mostly for

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 ...

matches. The stadium has a capacity of 40,000 spectators.

History

It was built in 1995 for the

1997 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, known as the 1997 FIFA/Coca-Cola World Youth Championship for sponsorship purposes, was the 11th staging of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA World Youth Championship. It was held from 16 June to 5 July 1997 i ...

. The stadium also hosted the famous '' South American derby'' between

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

during the

. Notable names who played in the stadium include

Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (; born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, sports broadcaster and former player. He is considered one of the greatest players of all time and widely regarded as the greatest player in Premi ...

Nicolas Anelka Nicolas Sébastien Anelka (born 14 March 1979) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a Forward (association football), forward. As a player, he regularly featur ...

David Trezeguet David Sergio Trezeguet (, ; born 15 October 1977) is a French former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Trezeguet began his career in Argentina with Club Atlético Platense at ...

Mikaël Silvestre Mikaël Samy Silvestre (born 9 August 1977) is a French former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. He is best known for a nine-year spell at Manchester United F.C., Manchester U ...

William Gallas William Eric Gallas (born 17 August 1977) is a French football coach and former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. He played most of his footballing career in France and Engl ...

Walter Samuel Walter Adrián Samuel (; born Walter Adrián Luján; 23 March 1978) is an Argentine former professional footballer. Samuel has been regarded as one of the best centre-backs of his generation, and as one of football's toughest defenders, with f ...

Esteban Cambiasso Esteban Matías Cambiasso Deleau (; born 18 August 1980), nicknamed ''"Cuchu"'', is an Argentine former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. During his career, Cambiasso won 21 official titles, the majority ...

Juan Román Riquelme Juan Román Riquelme (; born 24 June 1978) is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer and current president of Boca Juniors, the club where he spent the majority of his playing career.Pablo Aimar Pablo César Aimar (born 3 November 1979) is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer and current assistant coach of the Argentina national football team, Argentina national team. During his career, he played as an attack ...

, Lionel Scaloni, Helton and Mickaël Landreau. The inaugural edition of the AFC Solidarity Cup was hosted in the stadium in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Facilities

The stadium was completed in April 1997, and is one of Asia's world-class stadiums. It consists of 4 levels, with an electronic multimedia scoreboard, manila grass football field with patented drainage and synthetic running track. The stadium is also equipped with: *VIP driveway *320 parking lots *stadium office *gymnasiums *changing and massage rooms *workshops *canteen *security control centre *dope testing area *medical clinics *saunas *prayer rooms *facilities for the disabled and VVIPs.

Notable matches

*Quarter-final match between

and

during the

*The 1998 Charity Shield match between Sarawak FA and

Selangor FA Selangor Football Club ( Malay: ''Kelab Bola Sepak Selangor'') is a professional football club based in the city of Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. The club currently competes in the Malaysia Super League, the top tier of Malaysian football. ...

*Quarter-final match of the

1998–99 Asian Cup Winners' Cup The 1998–99 Asian Cup Winners' Cup was the ninth edition of association football competition run by the Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and ...

between Sarawak FA and

Kashima Antlers The are a professional association football, football club based in Kashima, Ibaraki, Japan. They currently play in the J1 League, the top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The club has financial backing from Mercari, a Japanese ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. *Fourth venue (Group D) to host matches of

, Chelsea,

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

and

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

for the

Champions Youth Cup The 2007 Champions Youth Cup was the first and only staging of the Champions Youth Cup, a proposed annual football tournament. It was supported by the G-14 group and was intended to be a Club World Championship for the Under-19 teams of some of ...

2007. *

2016 AFC Solidarity Cup The 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup was the inaugural and only edition of the AFC Solidarity Cup, an international association football, football tournament. It took place between 2–15 November 2016 in Malaysia. The tournament was created by the Asian ...

International fixtures

1997 FIFA World Youth Championship

Events

*Borneo Sonic Music Festival (2023, 2024)

References

{{Coord, 1.588544, 110.360187, display=title, format=dms, type:landmark_scale:3000 Football venues in Malaysia Athletics (track and field) venues in Malaysia Multi-purpose stadiums in Malaysia Buildings and structures in Kuching 1997 establishments in Malaysia Sports venues in Sarawak Tourist attractions in Kuching Sports venues completed in 1997