Stepanakert Republican Stadium () or Khankendi Stadium () is a stadium in

Stepanakert Stepanakert officially Khankendi is a city in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. It was the capital city of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh prior to the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in ...

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

History

The stadium was unveiled in 1956 as ''Joseph Stalin Stadium''. After the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War was an ethnic conflict, ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nag ...

, the name was changed to ''

Stepan Shahumyan Stepan Georgevich Shaumian (; ; 1 October 1878 – 20 September 1918) was an Armenians, Armenian Bolsheviks, Bolshevik revolutionary and politician active throughout the Caucasus. His role as a leader of the Russian Revolution in the Caucasus ...

Central Stadium'' by the authorities of the breakaway

Republic of Artsakh Artsakh ( ), officially the Republic of Artsakh or the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh ( ), was a breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory was internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Between 1991 and 2023, Artsakh cont ...

. The stadium was entirely renovated in 2004–2005 and renamed ''Stepanakert Republican Stadium''. During the renovation, the venue was turned into an all-seater stadium with a capacity of 12,000 spectators. In 2015, the natural grass was replaced with an artificial turf. Since the mid-1990s, football teams from Karabakh started taking part in some domestic competitions in

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. Lernayin Artsakh is the football club that represents the city of Stepanakert. The Artsakh football league was launched in 2009. The Artsakh national football team was formed in 2012 and played their first competitive match against the

Abkhazia national football team The Abkhazia national football team is the team representing the partially recognised state of Abkhazia. They are not affiliated with FIFA or UEFA, and therefore cannot compete for the FIFA World Cup or the UEFA European Championship. They com ...

Sokhumi Sukhumi or Sokhumi is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the Capital city, capital and largest city of Abkhazia, a partially recognised state that most countries consider a part of Georgia (country), Georgia. The ...

, a match that ended with a result of 1–1 draw. The return match between the unrecognized teams took place at the stadium, on 21 October 2012, when the team of Nagorno-Karabakh defeated the Abkhaz team with a result of 3–0. After the

2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh Between 19 and 20 September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale military offensive against the political status of Nagorno-Karabakh, self-declared breakaway state of Republic of Artsakh, Artsakh, a move seen as a violation of the 2020 Nago ...

, the stadium was refurbished by the Azerbaijani authorities. The stadium hosted a

2023–24 Azerbaijan Cup The 2023–24 Azerbaijan Cup was the 32nd season of the annual cup competition in Azerbaijan. The winners qualified for the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round. Qarabağ won the cup (their eighth Azerbaijan Cup win) on 2 June 20 ...

match between

Qarabağ FK Qarabağ Futbol Klubu () is an Azerbaijani professional football club that competes in the Azerbaijan Premier League, the top flight of Azerbaijani football. The club originates from Aghdam in the Karabakh ( Azerbaijani: ''Qarabağ'') region, ...

and

MOIK Baku MOIK Baku is an Azerbaijani football club, based in Baku. MOIK was originally built around the concept of military sports club such as CSKA Moscow, CSKA Sofia. History The club was established under the name OIK (; ) in 1961 as sport society of ...

on 21 December 2023.

Events

The 6th Pan-Armenian Games football tournament, 7th

Pan-Armenian Games The Pan-Armenian Games () are a multi-sport event, held between competitors from the Armenian diaspora and Armenia. They consist of various competitions in individual and team sports among the Armenian athletes. It takes place in Yerevan, the cap ...

opening ceremony and

2019 CONIFA European Football Cup The 2019 Sportsbet.io CONIFA European Football Cup was the third edition of the CONIFA European Football Cup, an international association football, football tournament for states, minorities, stateless peoples and regions Non-FIFA international f ...

was held in the stadium.

Gallery

Stepanakert Republican Stadium depuis l'escalier à Stepanakert (Artsakh) en juillet 2017.jpg, The entrance to the stadium Stepanakert Stadium in 2017 (Artsakh).jpg, General view Stepanakert Republican Stadium, Stepanakert (Artsakh), July 2017.jpg, The stadium in 2017

References

Buildings and structures in Stepanakert Sports venues completed in 1956 1956 establishments in the Soviet Union Artsakh FC Sport in the Republic of Artsakh Football venues in Azerbaijan {{Azerbaijan-sports-venue-stub