Karaiskakis Stadium

Infobox Stadium
stadium_name = Karaiskakis Stadium
nickname =

UEFA
fullname = Stadion Georgios Karaiskakis
location = Neo Faliro, Piraeus, Athens, Greece
built = 1895
renovated = 1964 and 2004 (complete reconstruction)
opened = 1895
status = Open
demolished = 2003
owner = Greek State
operator = Olympiacos until 2052
surface =
construction_cost = € 65.000.000
architect =
former_names = "Podilatodromio" (Velodrome)
tenants = Olympiacos
Greek national team
seating_capacity = 33,334 (all-seater)
dimensions = 132x65m

The Karaiskakis Stadium (in Greek: Γήπεδο Γεώργιος Καραϊσκάκης ; IPA-all|ˈʝipe̞ˌðo̞ ʝe̞ˈo̞ɾʝiˌo̞s kaˌɾaisˈkakʲis) is in the Neo Faliro area of Piraeus, Greece. It is the home ground for the football section of the Olympiacos sports club. The stadium is named after Georgios Karaiskakis, hero of the Greek War of Independence, who was mortally wounded in this area.

It was used during the 1896 Summer Olympics as a velodrome where Frenchman Paul Masson took the three track cycling gold medals.

It was renovated during the 1960s and was completely rebuilt in 2004 into a 33,334 capacity all seater stadium ready for the football competition of the 2004 Summer Olympics.

The last renovation took a record time of only 14 months, finishing just in time for the Olympic Games. At this "renovation" the stadium was totally demolished and built again from the beginning, facing a different direction.

In June 2005, Karaiskaki became a movie theatre ("Cine Karaiskakis") with a cinema screen that is 20 m long and 10 m wide, operating daily between 9 and 11 p.m. (6 and 8 p.m. UTC) and later, every weekend. The movie screen featured movies including "Batman Begins" and others. The stadium operated as a movie theatre for the last time on Saturday August 13, 2005.

After the last deal ended in 1998, Olympiacos is using the stadium once again, on loan from 2003 and until 2052 and is traditionally labelled as the club's true home. The ticket sales average higher than any team's in recent decades for the Super League Greece history (rarely have ticket sales dropped under the 25,000-mark) and are not expected to drop in the foreseeable future.

Sales for national team matches have also been impressively higher, but this is for the most part due to Greece's success in Euro 2004

21 supporters of Olympiacos lost their lives in "Gate 7" (Θύρα 7) of the stadium, after a game between Olympiacos and AEK Athens FC (6-0), on February 8, 1981; an incident widely known as the Karaiskaki Stadium disaster. In memory of this event, at the tribune part where now is the Gate 7, some seats are black colored instead of red, shaping the number "7", whereas there is also a monument on the eastern side of the stadium, bearing the names of all 21 supporters killed on that day in the stadium.

tadium features

Karaiskákis Stadium is classified among 13 other ones around Europe as a 4-star football stadium by the UEFA organisation, allowing it to host the UEFA Cup Final, if chosen. It hosts 40 VIP lounges and suites, that can hold up to 472 persons, a press conference hall, that can hold up to 130 seats, 200 seats for press and media coverage, an entire shopping mall, with restaurants, cafés, retail and clothing stores, a gym and a Museum dedicated to the history of Olympiacos CFP. There are 10 mechanical stations around the stadium that print out tickets for those who have made bookings through the internet or by phone. Furthermore, there is a big parking area that can hold up to 2,500 cars without extra charge. Thanks to its modern layout, the tribunes have the ability to empty within only 7 minutes.

The stadium is easily accessed through the Athens Metro railway, at the station "Faliro", which is 20 minutes away from the city centre, and through the Athens Mass Transit System, at the station "S.E.F.", which is around 40 minutes from the centre of Athens.

External links

* [http://www.karaiskaki.gr/ Karaiskaki Stadium official website]
* [http://stadia.gr/karaiskaki/karaiskaki.html Information and photos of Karaiskaki Stadium (Greek)]
* [http://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Γήπεδο_Γεώργιος_Καραϊσκάκης Greek Wikipedia entry]
* [http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=28e269c69dc0dab3c493cfff29cc24ce Karaiskaki model on Google 3D Warehouse]