Al-Shaab Stadium

Al-Shaab Stadium (Arabic: ملعب الشعب‎; translates to The People's Stadium) is an all-seater multi-purpose stadium in Baghdad. The 40,000 seater was the home stadium of the Iraq national football team from its opening on 6 November 1966 until the Basra International Stadium was opened in 2013. The stadium is owned by the government of Iraq.

Al-Shaab stadium hosted the 5th Arabian Gulf Cup, the Arab Club Champions Cup Final in 1982 and full tournament in 1985, the 1972 Palestine Cup of Nations and the World Military Cup on two occasions: in 1968 and 1972.

Al-Shaab stadium was the largest stadium in Iraq until the Basra International Stadium, that has the capacity of 65,000 spectators, was opened in 2013.

History

Construction

In late 1959, a delegation from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation visited Former Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim in his office, which was in the Ministry of Defense. The meeting contained an offer that the foundation presented to the government of Iraq. It was assigning a percentage of the steady grant of oil that is owned by the foundation to build projects in Baghdad. These projects included the Iraqi National Museum, the Iraqi National Theater, the Medical City and Al-Shaab Stadium.

Abd al-Karim Qasim announced the building of Al-Shaab stadium on 21 April 1960, in front of 15,000 spectators. He said that the building of the new official stadium of the Iraq national football team will end in 1962 and will have the capacity of 50,000 spectators.

The cost of construction was 1 million dinars, for the stadium to be one of the biggest in the middle east. Its total area is 200,000m² with the capacity of 40,000 spectators. It had an athletics track covered with Tartan, lighting towers with the height of 55 meters and the total area of the park is 40,000m² with the capacity of 4,000 cars. The complex had two training stadiums, basketball, volleyball, handball and tennis fields and also it contained an Olympic swimming pool.