Koševo City Stadium

Stadium at Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

43°52′26″N 18°24′31″E / 43.87389°N 18.40861°E / 43.87389; 18.40861OwnerSarajevo City Council long-term leased to FK SarajevoOperatorFK Sarajevo[1]Capacity34,500[2]Field size105 x 68 m (114.8 x 74.4 yd)SurfaceHybrid grassScoreboardLEDConstructionBroke ground1946Opened1947Renovated1984
1996 2023Expanded1984TenantsFK Sarajevo (1947–present)
FK Željezničar (1968–1976)
Bosnia and Herzegovina (selected matches)

Koševo City Stadium (Bosnian: Gradski stadion Koševo),[3] also Koševo Olympic Stadium or Stadium Asim Ferhatović - Hase[4][5] (Stadion Asim Ferhatović Hase) is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Koševo neighborhood of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its official name is Olimpijski stadion Koševo – Asim Ferhatović-Hase.

The stadium was opened by the city, and leased on longterm basis by football club FK Sarajevo.[6] The club proposed the new name for its sporting and football events, in honor to its former footballer and club's legend, Asim Ferhatović. It hosted the opening ceremony of the 1984 Winter Olympics.

Construction

The stadium was opened in the year 1947. In 1984, it was reconstructed for the 1984 Winter Olympics, and is therefore often called Olympic Stadium. In July 2004, FK Sarajevo proposed the new name for sporting and football events, in honor to its former player and club's legend from the 1960s, Asim Ferhatović - Hase.

Today, the total capacity of Koševo is 34,500 seats, and up to 70,000 for musical and various public events, such as U2's concert as part of their PopMart Tour in 1997 and Dino Merlin's Burek tour in 2004 and Hotel Nacional in 2015, or hosting of papal pastoral visitations by Pope John Paul II between 12–13 April 1997 and Pope Francis on 6 June 2015. It was also the home stadium of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team.

History

Construction works started in 1947. The stadium was literally buried into a local hill thus merging with its natural surroundings. In 1950, a pitch and a tartan track were also added. The first international football match, between Yugoslavia and Turkey, was played in 1954.

In 1966, the stadium hosted an athletic championship for the Balkans. It was renovated for that occasion. A new administration building was built, so were the new locker rooms and a restaurant. A modern scoreboard and new lighting were also provided.

The stadium was renovated for the third time after the Bosnian War, in 1998. By adding the chairs on every stand the seating capacity of the stadium was reduced to 34,500.

Throughout its football history, the stadium was usually a home ground for FK Sarajevo's and FK Željezničar's international matches. The Sarajevo audience witnessed many great matches against Europe's finest clubs such as Manchester United, Dynamo Kyiv, Derby County, Basel, Hamburger SV, Newcastle United, Celtic etc.

The stadium's largest attendance was recorded in a 1981–82 Yugoslav First League match between Sarajevo and Željezničar. Allegedly, up to 60,000 people attended the game, though the exact number was never officially published.

In April 2021, the stadium was leased to FK Sarajevo for operating the stadium for the next 30 to 45 years, making the stadium FK Sarajevo's de facto property.[1]

1984 Winter Olympics

On 7 February 1984, the Asim Ferhatović Hase stadium hosted the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Winter Olympics for which it was thoroughly renovated and expanded. About 50,000 people attended the ceremonies. The west stand held 18,500 seating places at that time.[7]

Panoramic view of Koševo Stadium during the 1984 Winter Olympics opening ceremony.

Notable events

International Football Matches

Date Home Team Result Away Team Competition
17 October 1954  Yugoslavia 5-1  Turkey Friendly
8 April 1970  Yugoslavia 1-1  Austria Friendly
22 September 1971  Yugoslavia 4-0  Mexico Friendly
22 March 1980  Yugoslavia 2-1  Uruguay Friendly
1 June 1983  Yugoslavia 1-0  Romania Friendly
23 April 1985  Yugoslavia 0-0  France 1986 FIFA World Cup qualifying
11 October 1989  Yugoslavia 1-0  Norway 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifying
6 November 1996  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-1  Italy Friendly
2 April 1997  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-1  Greece 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifying
20 August 1997  Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-0  Denmark 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifying
10 September 1997  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-0  Slovenia 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifying
12 August 1998  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-0  Faroe Islands Euro 2000 qualifying
5 September 1998  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-1  Estonia Euro 2000 qualifying
10 October 1998  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-3  Czech Republic Euro 2000 qualifying
5 June 1999  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0  Lithuania Euro 2000 qualifying
4 September 1999  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-2  Scotland Euro 2000 qualifying
25 April 2000  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-1 FIFA XI Friendly
16 August 2000  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0  Turkey Friendly
2 September 2000  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-2  Spain 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying
24 March 2001  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-1  Austria 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying
15 August 2001  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0  Malta Friendly
1 September 2001  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-0  Israel 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying
21 August 2002  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-2  Yugoslavia Friendly
7 September 2002  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-3  Romania Euro 2004 qualifying
11 October 2002  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-1  Germany Friendly
11 October 2003  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-1  Denmark Euro 2004 qualifying
9 October 2004  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-0  Serbia and Montenegro 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying
30 March 2005  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-0  Lithuania 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying
16 August 2006  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-2  France Friendly
2 June 2007  Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-2  Turkey Euro 2008 qualifying
6 June 2007  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-0  Malta Euro 2008 qualifying
22 August 2007  Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-5  Croatia Friendly
12 September 2007  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-1  Moldova Euro 2008 qualifying
17 October 2007  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-2  Norway Euro 2008 qualifying
12 August 2009  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-3  Iran Friendly
3 March 2010  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-1  Ghana Friendly
7 September 2010  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-2  France Euro 2012 qualifying
10 August 2011  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-0  Greece Friendly
14 August 2013  Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-4  United States Friendly
12 November 2020  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-2  Iran Friendly

Notable Club Friendlies

Date Home Team Result Away Team Occasion Notes
17 March 1965 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia FK Sarajevo 1-2 Soviet Union Soviet Union USSR's Yugoslav Tour

— Sarajevo: Muftić (Sirćo), Fazlagić, Vujović, Prljača (Šehović), Biogradlić, Ristić, Čerkić, Smajlović, Ferhatović (Blažević), Osim, and Mušović (Šiljkut)
— USSR: Yashin, Chertkov, Shesternyov, Ponomaryov, Voronin, Shustikov, Chislenko, Kazakov, Metreveli, Logofet, and Meskhi
— scorers: 0:1 Metreveli (15th min), 0:2 Kazakov (51st min), 1:2 Šehović (67th min)
— attendance: ~40,000
FK Željezničar players Ivica Osim and Mišo Smajlović played the match for Sarajevo

19 September 1969 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia FK Željezničar 1-1 Brazil Santos FC Santos' Yugoslav Tour — Željo: Radović, Hrvat, Bećirspahić, Saračević, Hadžiabdić, Bratić, Jelušić [hr], Osim (Deraković), Bukal, Musemić (Janković), and Bajić (Kojović); head coach: Milan Ribar
— Santos: Gilmar, Delgado, Turcão, Lima, Clodoaldo, Joel, Manoel Maria, Nené [pt; es], Edú, Douglas, Pelé, and Abel
— scorers: 1:0 Bukal (45th min), 1:1 Pelé (78th min)
— attendance: ~30,000
— 22-year-old FK Sarajevo and Yugoslavia national team player Vahidin Musemić played the friendly match for his club's city rival Željo only twelve days after the Sarajevo derby in the Yugoslav First League, a match in which Sarajevo beat Željo 1-2
— the friendly match was Santos' fourth and final outing on their Yugoslav tour, (four friendly matches in nine days); before Željo they played Yugoslav First League sides Red Star (September 10th; 3-3), Dinamo Zagreb (September 13th; 1-1), and Radnički Kragujevac (September 16th; 4-4)
— Željo played the friendly match in-between two of their league fixtures at the start of the 1969–70 Yugoslav First League; five days earlier, they had destroyed NK Olimpija 0-4 away in Ljubljana while only two days after playing Santos, they would host FK Vojvodina and beat them 3-1[8]
— the crowd and media interest that Santos FC and their soon to be twenty-nine-year-old superstar Pelé garnered in Yugoslavia was sizeable; each of their four friendlies in the country was played in front of a packed stadium (~70,000 vs Red Star at Marakana, ~60,000 vs Dinamo at Maksimir, ~8,000 vs Radnički Kragujevac at Čika Dača, and ~30,000 vs Željo at Koševo) with each match broadcast live on Yugoslav television[9]
16 June 1971 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia FK Željezničar 3-3 Italy Inter Milan FK Željezničar 50th Anniversary — Željo: Janjuš, Kojović [it], Bećirspahić, Bratić, Katalinski, Hadžiabdić, Jelušić [hr], Janković, Bukal, Sprečo, and Džajić; head coach: Milan Ribar
— Inter: Bordon, Bedin, Oriali (46th min Burgnich), Jair, Bertini, Boninsegna, Mazzola, Frustalupi, Fabbian (46th min Cella), Giubertoni, and Corso; head coach: Giovanni Invernizzi
— scorers: 0:1 Boninsegna (4th min), 1:1 Janković (15th min), 2:1 Džajić (45th min), 2:2 Boninsegna (63rd min), 2:3 Mazzola (67th min), 3:3 Bukal (70th min)
— attendance: ~50,000
— 25-year-old Red Star Belgrade and Yugoslavia national team star player Dragan Džajić played the friendly match for Željezničar[10]
— several weeks before the friendly match, Inter Milan had finished their league season, winning their eleventh Serie A league title
— Željo played the friendly match in-between their league fixtures from the end of the 1970–71 Yugoslav First League season; three days earlier they had beaten NK Maribor 5-0 at home and with two weeks (two matches) left in the league, Željo—trailing league leaders Hajduk Split by 3 points—still had a slight outside chance of winning the title
— four days after the friendly match with Inter, Željo travelled away to Crvenka to face relegation battlers FK Crvenka and only got a 2-2 draw while Hajduk, despite trailing 3-0 at halftime, managed to score four goals within 38 minutes and defeat FK Partizan away 3-4 thus clinching the title[11][12]
17 August 1972 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia FK Sarajevo 2-2 Spain Real Madrid C.F. FK Sarajevo 25th Anniversary — Sarajevo: Muftić (Gruda), Tešan, Muzurović (Kuduz), Šljivo, Lubura (Demir), Rašević, D. Simić (R. Simić), Pirić, Musemić, Cerić (Frančević), and Petković; head coach: Srboljub Markušević
— Real: García Remón, Touriño (José Luis 45´), Benito, Verdugo, Pirri (Andrés [es] 45´), Zoco, Amancio, Grosso, Santillana, Velázquez, and Aguilar; head coach: Miguel Muñoz
— scorers: 0:1 Aguilera (31st min), 0:2 Pirri (36th min), 1:2 Rašević (41st min, penalty kick), 2:2 Pirić (80th min)
— reigning La Liga champions Real played the friendly match as part of their pre-season training for the upcoming La Liga season set to start two weeks later
— Sarajevo played the friendly match as final preparation ahead of travelling to Bor three days later for the opening of their 1972–73 Yugoslav First League campaign away at newly-promoted FK Bor where Sarajevo would go on to lose in a 4-1 upset[13]

Concerts

Other events

Pope Francis celebrating a mass at the stadium on 6 June 2015.
  • Pope John Paul II celebrated a mass in the stadium in front of 50,000 people - 13 April 1997
  • Pope Francis celebrated a mass in the stadium in front of 67,000 people - 6 June 2015

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Usvojen Nacrt ugovora o zakupu stadiona "Asim Ferhatović Hase" (In Bosnian)". Općina Centar Sarajevo. Općina centar. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  2. ^ "Stadion". FK Sarajevo. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Općina Centar Sarajevo". Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  4. ^ "45 search results for "stadion Koševo"". sarajevo.ba (in Bosnian and English). Grad Sarajevo - City of Sarajevo (stadium owner). Archived from the original on 5 January 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  5. ^ "25 search results for "stadion Asim Ferhatović Hase"". sarajevo.ba (in Bosnian and English). Grad Sarajevo - City of Sarajevo (stadium owner). Archived from the original on 5 January 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  6. ^ "Stadion". FK Sarajevo. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  7. ^ 1984 Winter Olympics official report. pp. 10-14, 90.
  8. ^ Znate li da je slavni Pele postigao gol na Koševu?;klix.ba, 14 May 2011
  9. ^ Pele na jugoslovenskoj turneji;strategija.org
  10. ^ Željezničar igrao protiv milanskog Intera 3:3;klix.ba, 16 June 2012
  11. ^ Vujnović, Tonči (26 April 2016). "1971god. Partizan-Hajduk 3-4". HajduckiPortal.hr. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  12. ^ Mornar, Zvone (June 1971). "Hajduk u blistavom stilu osvojio krunu nogometnog prvaka Jugoslavije: Koja je tajna njihova uspjeha?". VUS. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  13. ^ Real Madrid vodio 0:2, Sarajevo izjednačilo;klix.ba, 5 July 2011

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