Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi

Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
The stadium seen during the opening ceremony of the 2010 Commonwealth Games
Location	New Delhi, India
Built	1982
Renovated	2010
Capacity	60,000
Tenants
2010 Commonwealth Games India national football team (2011-present)

Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (Hindi: जवाहरलाल नेहरू स्टेडियम, Punjabi: ਜਵਾਹਰਲਾਲ ਨੇਹਰੁ ਸਟੇਡਿਯਮ, Urdu: جواہر لعل نہرو اسٹیڈیم) in Delhi, India, is a multipurpose sports arena hosting football and other sporting events, as well as large-scale entertainment events. It is named after the first Prime Minister of India. The all-seater facility seats 60,000 spectators,^[1] and up to 100,000 for concerts. In terms of seating capacity, it is the third largest multipurpose stadium in India and the 51st largest in the world. The stadium houses the headquarters of the Indian Olympic Association.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium was constructed by the Government of India to host the 9th Asian Games in 1982, following which it hosted the 1989 Asian Championships in Athletics and the 2010 Commonwealth Games. In preparation for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the stadium reduced its capacity from 78,000 to 60,000 spectators.

Hosted sports and events

Concerts

The stadium played host to Amnesty International's Human Rights Now! Benefit Concert on September 30, 1988. The show was headlined by Sting and Peter Gabriel and also featured Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Tracy Chapman, Youssou N'Dour and Ravi Shankar.

Cricket

The Stadium has hosted One Day International matches featuring India: against Australia in 1984, and South Africa in 1991. Batsman Kepler Wessels played in both the matches, but for different countries, scoring 107 for Australia and 90 for South Africa.

Football

Some local National Football League (now defunct) matches have also been played here.

2010 Commonwealth Games

Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium was the main venue for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. It hosted the Opening and Closing ceremonies as well as athletics events for the Delhi Games. The stadium underwent massive redesign and reconstruction for the biggest multi-sport event hosted by India to that date. It was opened to the general public on 27 July 2010.^{[citation needed]}

On 29–30 July 2010, the first-ever Asian All Asian Athletics championship was held. Over 1500 students from schools came to see the event.^{[citation needed]}

The opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games 2010 has been held. Security for the ceremony used NSG, CRPF and Delhi police personnel. Tickets were checked by electronic ticket checking machine similar to the ones used in the Delhi Metro. There are over 350 CCTV cameras in the venue. Delhi was closed, in the sense that all the malls, shops, offices and call-centers in Delhi were closed before and during the ceremony.^{[citation needed]}

Renovation

The stadium was given a new roof, improved seating, and other facilities to meet international standards as it hosts the athletic events and the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

• The 53,800 m² Teflon-coated roof, designed by Schlaich Bergermann & Partner, was built at a cost of Rs. 308 crore.^[2]
• Taiyo Membrane Corporation supplied and installed the PTFE glass fibre fabric roof.
• 8,500 tonnes of steel were used in the construction of the stadium's roof and its support structure.
• A new 10-lane synthetic track, synthetic warm-up track, and a synthetic lawn ball field were added.
• Two new venues were constructed next to the stadium for the Games: four synthetic greens for the lawn bowls event and a 2,500-seat gymnasium for the weightlifting event. A 400-metre warm-up track was also constructed.
• Nearly 4,000 labourers worked in double shifts to finish the stadium in time.
• A 150m long tunnel was constructed for the opening and closing ceremonies.^[3]
• The support structure for the new roof is similar to London's Olympic Stadium, which is under construction.
• The design is similar to Foshan Stadium in China, built by the same designers.
• 24 condom machines were installed by the Ministry of Health.
• In case of emergency, the construction allows spectators to evacuate within 6 minutes.

Home of Indian National Football Team

The Indian team will play it home matches in the Nehru Stadium after it was handed over by Sports Ministry to the AIFF.^[4]

India's first match in the new stadium will be played against UAE in 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification play-off on 28 July,2011.^[5] However, this match has now been shifted to Ambedkar Stadium because of the unplayable conditions at the Nehru stadium. ^[6]

The 2011 SAFF Cup will be played here from 2 Dec - 11 Dec 2011.

References

1. ^ www.cwgdelhi2010.org
2. ^ Sobhana K (2010-01-19). "Nehru stadium work enters last lap". Express India. http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Nehru-stadium-work-enters-last-lap/568940/. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
3. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
4. ^ http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-15/top-stories/29421353_1_sports-minister-nehru-stadium-hub
5. ^ http://the-aiff.com/pages/news/index.php?N_Id=2540
6. ^ "Indian National Team: Ambedkar Stadium To Host India V UAE 2014 World Cup Qualifier". http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/2696/indian-national-team/2011/06/28/2550950/indian-national-team-ambedkar-stadium-to-host-india-v-uae. Retrieved 28 June 2011. 

External links

• Football temples of the world - India
• Cricinfo - Grounds - Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi

Coordinates: 28°34′58″N 77°14′04″E / 28.582873°N 77.23438°E / 28.582873; 77.23438