Dinamo Stadium (Minsk)

Dinamo National Olympic Stadium (Belarusian: Нацыянальны Алімпійскі стадыён Дынама,Nacyjanalny Alimpijski stadyjon Dynama, Belarusian pronunciation: [stadɨˈjɔn dɨˈnama]) is a multi-purpose stadium in Minsk, Belarus. It was recently reopened after a massive renovation project. Earlier it was used mostly for football matches and was the home ground of Dinamo Minsk, FC Minsk and the Belarus national football team. Previously the stadium officially held 40,000, but because part of the upper stand had been abandoned in the mid-1990s for safety reasons, the actual capacity before renovations was 34,000.[1] After renovation the capacity is only 22,246.

Dinamo National Olympic Stadium
LocationMinsk, Belarus
Coordinates53°53′42.67″N 27°33′36.20″E
Capacity22,246
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Opened1934
Renovated1939, 1947–1954, 1978-1980, 2012–2018
Tenants
FC Dinamo Minsk (1934–2008, 2018–)
FC Minsk (2009–2012)
Belarus national football team (1992–2012, 2018–present)
A birds eye view of the Stadium from June 2018.

History
Dinamo Stadium in 2008.

Dinamo Stadium was constructed and opened in 1934 and then expanded in 1939. It was destroyed during the Second World War and rebuilt during the years 1947–1954. It was further renovated during 1978–1980 in preparation for 1980 Summer Olympics.[2] In October 2012, the stadium was closed for major reconstruction works. It will be reopened in December 2017 as a soccer-specific stadium, ready in time for the 2019 European Games.[3]

Domestic use

During the Soviet years the stadium was a home venue for Dinamo Minsk, who continued to use the stadium until 2008. Since 2009, Dinamo Minsk has relocated to a smaller Dinamo-Yuni Stadium, while Dinamo Stadium became the primary home venue for FC Minsk. The stadium was also a traditional venue to host the final match of the Belarusian Cup, which was held here almost every year between 1992 and 2012, with the exception of the years 2002 and 2011.

International use

The stadium was one of the venues of the football tournament at the 1980 Summer Olympics. It hosted 6 group phase matches and one quarterfinal.[4] It was one of the venues at the 1984 UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship and at the 1985 FIFA U20 World Cup, both held in the Soviet Union.[5] Since 1992, the stadium has been a primary home venue for the Belarus national football team.

Over the years the stadium has been used by a lot of Belarusian clubs in European Cups, this in case the clubs' own stadiums did not meet UEFA criteria. In recent years it was used as the home venue for BATE Borisov's UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League games, including group phase of both competitions, Champions League qualifying round and Europa League knockout phase.

References
  1. Stadium profile at pressball.by
  2. History of Dinamo Stadium
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-04-14. Retrieved 2012-10-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. 1980 Summer Olympics Technical Study
  5. Dinamo Stadium history Archived 2013-02-25 at the Wayback Machine
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