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Iranian rial>tomans ({{€|400,163,944}})| architect = Abdol-Aziz Mirza Farmanfarmaian| project_manager = Skidmore, Owings & Merrill| structural engineer = James Raymond Whittle| services engineer = | general_contractor = | main_contractors = Esteghlal F.C. (1973–present)>Persepolis F.C. (1973–present)>Iran national football team (1975–present)}}www.azadisportcomplex.com}}}}The Azadi Stadium ( VarzeÅ¡gâh-è Âzâdi), opened as the Aryamehr Stadium ( VarzeÅ¡gâh-è Âryâmehr), is an all-seater football stadium in Tehran, Iran. The stadium was designed by Abdol Aziz Mirza Farman-Farmaian Architects and Associates (AFFA) with other parts of the sports complex based on plans by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, an American architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was inaugurated on 17 October 1971 by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran; it is currently self-owned by Esteghlal and Persepolis. It is also the home stadium of the Iran national football team. It has a capacity of 78,116 spectators, as the result of conversion to all-seater stadium. The stadium is part of the larger Azadi Sport Complex.{{fact|date=December 2023}}Aryamehr (meaning “Light of the Aryans“) was the title of the said Shah; it was renamed after the Iranian Revolution to Azadi (meaning “freedom” in Persian). It is the largest association football stadium in Western Asia. It was built to host the 1974 Asian Games and has hosted the 1976 AFC Asian Cup. The stadium also hosted five finals of Asian Club Competitions: three finals of AFC Champions League in 1999, 2002 and 2018 and two finals of Asian Cup Winners’ Cup in 1991 and 1993. Azadi Stadium also hosted WAFF Championship Tournament in 2004 and 2008.{{fact|date=December 2023}}Because of the loud sound of vuvuzelas, similar to the sound of bees, the stadium is sometimes referred to as a “Bee swarm”.bugaga.ru — 25 самых пугающих стадионов в мире (25 Most intimidating stadiums in the world) In Russian

Location

The stadium is located in the West of Tehran, near Ekbatan district.{{fact|date=December 2023}}

History

(File:Azadi Stadium VIP entrance.jpg|thumb|left|VIP façade of the stadium)The Azadi Stadium was constructed by Arme Construction Company and designed by Aziz Farman-Farmaian’s architecture firm, AFFA, for the 1974 Asian Games with international criteria. It replaced the Amjadieh Stadium as the new home of Iran’s national football team.{{fact|date=December 2023}}The stadium was built as part of a much larger complex which included numerous Olympic-sized venues for various sports, laying the groundwork for ambitious plans for Tehran to make a bid to host the Summer Olympics. In August 1975, the Iranian Shah, Tehran’s Mayor and the Iranian Olympic Committee submitted a formal letter to the International Olympic Committee, notifying it of Iran’s interest in hosting the 1984 Summer Games.library.la84.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1975/ore95/ore95zb.pdf" title="web.archive.org/web/20160826043752library.la84.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1975/ore95/ore95zb.pdf"library.la84.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1975/ore95/ore95zb.pdf The stadium was the focal point for the bid. But political unrest in the late-1970s saw Tehran drop its bid for Games, leaving the eventual host, Los Angeles, the only city left bidding.{{fact|date=July 2022}}Renovations first began on the stadium in 2002. Stadium management also planned to later install seats in the upper level of the stadium. Those renovations were completed in 2003, and brought down the capacity of the stadium to well under 100,000. Later upgrades to the stadium brought it down to its current capacity of 78,116. Despite its reduced capacity, Azadi Stadium has been filled over capacity at times such as the Iran-Japan FIFA World Cup 2006 qualification match in March 2005 which resulted in the deaths of seven people.{{fact|date=December 2023}} In 2004 a large jumbotron television was added, replacing the original scoreboard. The stadium hosted two West Asian Football Federation Championship in 2004 and 2008. In 2008, AFC forced Sepahan to play the home matches in AFC Champions League in this stadium after their home stadium Naghsh-e-Jahan Stadium was closed for renovation. The stadium also is the regular host for Iran U-23 for the Olympics football qualifying.{{fact|date=July 2022}}In recent years the Iranian Football Federation has repeatedly submitted bids to host the AFC Asian Cup, which Iran last hosted in 1976. But some officials have hinted that rules in Iran banning women from stadiums like Azadi have kept international sports organizations from staging events there.WEB,www.espn.com/soccer/league-name/story/2334220/headline, Blatter: Iran must end stadium ban on women, espn.com, 6 March 2015, 3 April 2018, Iranian women have been banned from watching matches at Azadi Stadium since 1982.WEB, Payne, Marissa, 11 July 2017, Iranian soccer stars call on government to repeal ban on women in stadiums,www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/07/11/iranian-soccer-stars-call-on-government-to-repeal-ban-on-women-in-stadiums/, 3 April 2018, washingtonpost, www.washingtonpost.com,

Events

• In November 1975, Frank Sinatra held (Frank Sinatra: Live at Aryamehr Stadium|a concert) at Aryamehr Stadium.
• The 2006 film, ”Offside” (the winner of the Silver bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2006) directed by Jafar Panahi and starring Sima Mobarak Shahi and Ida Sadeghi, about girls trying to get into the stadium to watch a football match, was filmed there.
• Azadi Stadium also hosted Ferdousi festival in May 2013.
• 2015 Women’s Islamic Games were held at the stadium.
• The song Salam Farmande was sung in the Azadi Stadium.{{fact|date=December 2023}}

Building and facilities

The architect of the stadium was Abdolaziz Farmanfarmaian, with some parts of the complex done in partnership with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. At the beginning, the stadium had a maximum capacity of 120,000 visitors but was decreased to 84,000 after renovations in 2003. On the big occasions the crowd swells well beyond that. The structural engineer and project manager for the building of the stadium was James Raymond Whittle from England.{{fact|date=December 2023}}

Transportation

There is enough parking for 400 cars inside the stadium, and an additional 10,000 parking spots are available outside.{{fact|date=December 2023}}

Record attendance

The record attendance at Azadi Stadium is over 128,000 during a 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Australia.WEB, Classic Football Matches Qualifiers,www.fifa.com/classicfootball/matches/qualifiers/match=8705/index.html, dead,web.archive.org/web/20130425053310/https://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/matches/qualifiers/match=8705/index.html, 25 April 2013, 20 March 2015, FIFA, fifa.com,

See also

• List of association football stadia by capacity
• Football in Iran
• Azadi Sport Complex
• Azadi Tower
• Lists of stadiums

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

External links

{{commons category|Azadi Stadium}}

• Official website of the Azadi Sports Complex

{{coord|35|43|27.99|N|51|16|31.98|E|type:landmark|display=title}}}}{{Asian Games stadia}}{{Iran national football team}}{{Esteghlal F.C.}}{{Persepolis FC}}