Sugathadasa 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 ...

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. It is currently used 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 ...

, rugby union, and

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

. The stadium holds 25,000 people and has an on-site hotel.

History

The concept of an outdoor sporting stadium was initially raised by V. A. Sugathadasa, the

Mayor of Colombo The Mayor of Colombo is the elected head of the Colombo Municipal Council. The post was created in 1866 when the Colombo Municipal Council was established by the Legislative Council of Ceylon. The mayor is assisted by the deputy mayor and a Munic ...

(1956–57, 1963–65), the country's first Minister of Sports (1966–70) and Chairman of the National Olympic and Commonwealth Games Committee. Construction of the stadium commenced on 16 January 1957 and was completed on 16 December 1962. The stadium was named after Sugathadasa, as he donated the land it was built on. In 1991, an indoor stadium was constructed on the site by the Mitsui Company for the 1991 South Asian Games, and was opened by President Ranasinghe Premadasa.

Stadium usage

The 1991 and

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

South Asian Games The South Asian Games is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among athletes from South Asia. The South Asia Olympic Council, which was formed in 1983, governs it. The Games consist of seven countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, N ...

were held in Sugathadasa Stadium. It also hosted the majority of matches for the

2010 AFC Challenge Cup The 2010 AFC Challenge Cup was the third edition of the tournament which was held from 16–27 February 2010 in Sri Lanka. India, the defending champions, fielded their India national under-23 football team, under-23 team for this tournament ...

. The 2010 IIFA Awards took place here. In 2012, the stadium was home to the Elite Football League of India. In 2002 it hosted the

Asian Athletics Championships The Asian Athletics Championships is an event organized by the Asian Athletics Association. History The competition courted controversy with the IAAF when political in-fighting arose after Israel was excluded from participation in 1977. That edi ...

Track

The track was first laid in around 1989 and relaid again 1996. In 2002 Rekortan track was laid, which was then relaid in 2012 by the Ministry of Sports however the track failed within two years and currently Sri Lankan athletes were lacking an international track to practice for international meets. In 2017 the Minister of Sports, Dayasiri Jayasekara, announced the track would be relaid and was expected to open back to athletes in December 2017. The Sugathadasa Authority took actions to relay the Track again in 2018 and it was reopened to the athletes with IAAF Certified Track and Field Facilities.

References

External links

Photos
a
cafe.daum.net/stadeWorld Stadiums entry
Football venues in Sri Lanka Athletics (track and field) venues in Sri Lanka Multi-purpose stadiums in Sri Lanka Sports venues in Colombo American football venues in Asia 1962 establishments in Ceylon Sports venues completed in 1962 Rugby union stadiums in Sri Lanka {{SriLanka-sports-venue-stub