| The Qemal Stafa Stadium (Albanian: Stadiumi Qemal Stafa), named after Qemal Stafa (1920–1942), a World War II hero, was a national stadium and the largest football stadium in Tirana, Albania. Construction started in 1939 and the stadium was inaugurated in 1946 for the Balkan Cup, which was won by the Albania national football team. The stadium has been used for football matches of the Albanian Superliga and the national team, athletic events, and the six Albanian Spartakiads. Although it was enlarged in 1974 to accommodate up to 35,000 spectators, in the 1990s it became an all-seater stadium, and its capacity was reduced to 19,700.
The stadium was demolished in June 2016 to make way for the new national stadium called the Arena Kombëtare, was constructed on the same site and opened in November 2019. The Football Association of Albania and the Albanian government divide the property rights of the stadium between them; the football association holds 75% rights and the government 25%. National Arena, with a capacity of over 22,500 spectators built at a cost of €60 million. The new stadium is football-only; the athletics track was removed. It meets the highest UEFA category. Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License - Full article |
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