Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium is a multi-sports stadium located in New Delhi, India. It is named after the first Prime Minister of India. Primarily a venue for football and athletics, it is an all-seater 60,254-capacity stadium, designed and constructed to meet the international standards set by FIFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and World Athletics (WA). It is the fourth largest stadium in India, 27th largest stadium in Asia and the 103rd largest stadium in the world, in terms of seating capacity.
The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium was originally constructed by the Government of India to host the athletic events and ceremonies of the 1982 Asian Games.[3] It also hosted the 1989 Asian Championships in Athletics.[4] The stadium was substantially renovated and modernised for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, hosting all the track and field events and opening and closing ceremonies.[5] In 2010, the final cost of the renovation was announced, which was ₹961 crore (US$210.16 million), making it as the most expensive stadium ever built in India and South Asia.[6] The stadium was redesigned by the German architectural companies Gerkan, Marg and Partners and Schlaich Bergermann Partner.[7][8]
The stadium is a part of the Jawaharlal Nehru sports complex in central Delhi, which also houses the headquarters of the Sports Authority of India.[9] The stadium is used by the India national football team for international competition and Indian Athletics. From 2014 to 2019, it was the home ground of the former Indian Super League football club Delhi Dynamos. The stadium can also hold music concerts with up to 100,000 spectators, and due to its oval shape, it is suitable to host other sporting events such as cricket.[10] The stadium hosted some matches of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.[11] It was scheduled to be used as one of the venues for the 2020 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.[12]
History
The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium was constructed by the Government of India to host the 1982 Asian Games. A total of 3,411 athletes from 33 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in these games, competing in 196 events in 21 sports and 23 disciplines. This was the first Asian Games to be held under the aegis of the Olympic Council of Asia. The stadium hosted the athletic events and opening and closing ceremonies. The capacity of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium was 78,000 during the games.[3] The stadium also hosted the 1989 Asian Championships in Athletics.[4]