Former names | Qemal Stafa |
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Location | Sheshi Italia 1, 1010 Tirana, Albania |
Coordinates | 41°19′6″N 19°49′27″E / 41.31833°N 19.82417°E |
Owner | FSHF (Albanian Football Federation) |
Operator | Albanian National Team |
Capacity | 22,500 |
Field size | 105 x 68 m |
Surface | Grass |
Construction | |
Opened | September 1, 2018 (planned) |
Construction cost | €60 million |
Architect | Marco Casamonti, Archea Associati |
Tenants | |
Albanian National Team |
National Arena (Albanian: Arena Kombëtare) is an under-construction all-seater football stadium in Tirana, the capital of Albania. This planned stadium will be the new home of the Albanian National Team and it will serve as a venue for major football club cup finals and other sports and non-sports related activities.
The stadium was designed with a capacity to seat 22,500 spectators, making it the highest capacity football stadium in Albania. Ever since an initial stadium proposal in 2010, FSHF (Albanian Football Association) has had two additional stadium proposals that failed to be built. The stadium is planned to be completed by June 2018, Albania national football team will begin playing in September of the same year. The stadium will be built on the same site of Qemal Stafa, which demolished in June 2016.
The old Qemal Stafa was closed for demolition in June 2016, and the site will be reconstructed with a new larger-capacity National Arena. The final design of the new stadium was done by Marco Cassamonti of Archea Associati and the construction is scheduled to be finished in 2018. It is expected to cost around 60 million Euro.
Construction is officially scheduled to commence in September 2016. It is expected that construction will continue for the next 2 years to be ready for the Albanian National Team's Euro 2020 qualifying home matches.
It will seat 22,500 people for football matches and up to 30,000 people for other events. 100% of the investment in the arena comes from the private sector, displaying the capacity for partnership between the Albanian Football Association and a private company.
The stadium is located near the center of the capital Tirana. The project includes changing rooms and other rooms for the athletes, cafeterias, restrooms including access for the handicapped, a press area, a convention center, a trophy room, etc.