Arena Kombëtare

National Arena
Arena Kombetare, 2017
Former names Qemal Stafa
Location Sheshi Italia 1, 1010
Tirana, Albania
Coordinates 41°19′6″N 19°49′27″E / 41.31833°N 19.82417°E / 41.31833; 19.82417
Owner Federata Shqiptare e Futbollit (FSHF)
Operator Albania national football team
Executive suites 12
Capacity 22,500
Field size 105 x 68 m
Surface Grass
Construction
Opened December 2018 (planned)
Expanded 2016–2018
Demolished 2016
Construction cost €60 million
Architect Marco Casamonti, Archea Associati
Project manager Arben Dervishaj
Tenants
Albania national football team
Website
arenakombetare.org.al

National Arena (Albanian: Arena Kombëtare) is an under-construction all-seater football stadium in Tirana, the capital of Albania.[1] 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 December 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.[2]

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.

History

Planning

  • Edi Rama, Albanian PM, announced that Albanian National Team in 2018 will play its home games in this new stadium.[3] UEFA will help the Albanian Football Association with an amount of about 10 million euro for the construction of this stadium.[4] The construction of the new stadium is expected to be finished by June 2018. The new facility will be able to host 22.500 spectators and will only serve as national stadium. The first phase of the construction starts in June 2016 with the demolition of the current stadium Qemal Stafa.
  • The remaining EUR 50 million of the investment will be carried out by a private company that will benefit from all non-sports facilities of the stadium.
  • The design was done by Archea Associati, led by Marco Casamonti. The new stadium will be able to host around 22.500 spectators and it will be opened in the summer of 2018. The construction company is AlbStar Sh.P.K. The UEFA stadium category of the new stadium will be 4 according to the plans.

Demolition

  • 22 May 2016 the last match in the Qemal Stafa Stadium was played, the Albanian Cup Final between FK Kukesi and KF Laci, to make way for total demolition of the stadium.
  • In June 2016 the demolition of the Qemal Stafa Stadium started by AlbStar Sh.P.K.[2]

Construction

Construction commenced by AlbStar Sh.P.K. 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.

Design

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 AlbStar Sh.P.K.

Building and facilities

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.

Just like the historical one, new national stadium was designed by architectural team from Italian city of Florence, this time led by Marco Casamonti. A reminder of the predecessor, old main entrance, will be kept and incorporated into the main stand, hidden behind glass wall.

There’s no room for running track any more as capacity will grow to over 22,000 seats, all covered. Add to that a 100-meter tower, 80-room hotel and 256 underground parking spaces, and that is why no space for athletics was made in this versatile football stadium. All of the facilities will be hidden behind unique set of blinders in national colours of Albania.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Prezantohet "Arena Kombëtare"" [Presentation of Project] (in Albanian). Albanian Public Television. Albanian Public Television. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Fillon zyrtarisht prishja e stadiumit Qemal Stafa" [The demolition of Qemal Stafa Stadium has officially begun] (in Albanian). Albanian Public Television. Albanian Public Television. 9 June 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  3. ↑ Olsi Karagjozi (1 November 2015). ""Arena Kombëtare", Rama takon Dukën dhe arkitektët italianë" [“National Arena”, Rama meets Duka and Italian architects] (in Albanian). Super Sport Albania. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H2fB7Bf6SY
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