Atatürk Olympic Stadium
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| Atatürk Olympic Stadium | |
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| Location | Istanbul, Turkey |
| Opened | 13 December 2002 |
| Owner | Republic of Turkey |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction cost | $100 million |
| Architect | Michel Macary Aymeric Zublena |
| Tenants | Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor |
| Capacity | 83,000 |
| Field dimensions | 105 x 68 m |
Atatürk Olympic Stadium (Turkish: Atatürk Olimpiyat Stadı) located in İkitelli, a district in the western outskirts of İstanbul, is the largest-capacity stadium of Turkey. Its construction began in 1999 and was completed in 2002. It was built for Turkey's Olympic Games bid and cost about 130 million TRY.
With its 83,000 (all-seater) capacity and Olympic size, it was granted the "5-star sports complex" title by the UEFA in 2004, enabling it to host the finals of UEFA events. The stadium is also certified by the IAAF and IOC for athletic competitions. Atatürk Olympic Stadium has hosted some European athletic competitions. Galatasaray SK played its home games at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium during the 2003-2004 football season, due to the bad condition of their own venue, Ali Sami Yen Stadium, and this was criticized by other teams. Galatasaray eventually returned back to Ali Sami Yen for the 2004-2005 season. Sivasspor also played some of its home games at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium due to the bad weather conditions in their original hometown stadium.
The 2005 Champions League final between A.C. Milan and Liverpool F.C. was played on May 25, 2005, at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium. Liverpool memorably won the game on penalties despite being 3-0 down at half time.
Galatasaray played their 2006-2007 Champions League games at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium.
[edit] External links
- Satellite Photo of Atatürk Olympic Stadium
- Atatürk Olympic Stadium Photographs
- Football Temples of the World
- Ataturk Olimpiyat Stadi (Turkish)
| Preceded by Arena AufSchalke Gelsenkirchen |
UEFA Champions League Final Venue 2005 |
Succeeded by Stade de France St-Denis |
