Astana Arena

Astana Arena

View from the Southeast stands.
Location	Qabanbay Batyr Avenue, Astana, Kazakhstan
Coordinates	51°6′29″N 71°24′6″E / 51.10806°N 71.40167°E / 51.10806; 71.40167
Owner	City of Astana
Operator	City of Astana
Capacity	30,244
Surface	Artificial turf
Construction
Opened	3 July 2009
Construction cost	$ 185 million
Architect	Populous + Tabanlıoğlu Architects
Structural engineer	Buro Happold
Main contractors	Sembol Construction
Tenants
FC Astana FC Bayterek Kazakhstan national football team 2011 Asian Winter Games
Website
www.astanaarena.kz

The Astana Arena (Kazakh: Астана Арена) is a football stadium in Astana, Kazakhstan. The stadium holds 30,000 and has a retractable roof. It serves as the national stadium for the Kazakhstan national football team. Astana Arena is the second largest stadium in the country and it was built from 2006 to 2009 at a cost of $185 million, and was officially opened on 3 July 2009. It is also a home ground for FC Astana of the Kazakhstan Premier League and FC Bayterek of the Kazakhstan First Division. The stadium hosted the opening ceremony of the 7th Asian Winter Games on 31 January 2011. Astana Arena was one of the venues to bid to host Euro 2020 matches.

Construction of the Astana Arena began in 2006. The stadium was designed by leading sports architects Populous in association with Tabanlioglu Architects. The general contractor was Sembol Construction. It was opened with the Lokomotiv Astana match against the Kazakhstan national under-21 football team on July 3, 2009. Match judged famous Italian referee Pierluigi Collina, the symbolic first blow at the ball under his whistle struck the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. As part of each team, in addition to their regular players, were invited on two “stars”: in the youth national team of Kazakhstan – the Georgian defender Kakha Kaladze and Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko, and in the Lokomotiv Astana – Turkish players Hasan Şaş and Hakan Şükür.