Koševo City Stadium
Stadium at Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Koševo Stadium (Bosnian:" 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.
 Stadion Koševo - UEFA   | |
 | |
| Full name | Olimpijski stadion Koševo – Asim Ferhatović-Hase |
|---|---|
| Location | Betanija, Centar, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Coordinates | 43°52′26″N 18°24′31″E |
| Owner | Sarajevo City Council long-term leased to FK Sarajevo |
| Operator | FK Sarajevo[1] |
| Capacity | 34,500[2] |
| Field size | 105 x 68 m (114.8 x 74.4 yd) |
| Surface | Hybrid grass |
| Scoreboard | LED |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1946 |
| Opened | 1947 |
| Renovated | 1984 1996 2023 |
| Expanded | 1984 |
| Tenants | |
| FK Sarajevo (1947–present) FK Željezničar (1968–1976) Bosnia and Herzegovina (selected matches) | |
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.
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.
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]
International Football Matches
Notable Club Friendlies and Exhibition Matches
| Date | Home Team | Result | Away Team | Occasion | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 March 1965 |  FK Sarajevo | 1-2 |  Soviet Union | USSR's Yugoslav Tour |
— Sarajevo: Muftić (Sirćo), Fazlagić, Vujović, Prljača (Šehović), Biogradlić, Ristić, Čerkić, Smajlović, Ferhatović (Blažević), Osim, and Mušović (Šiljkut) |
| 19 September 1969 | FK Željezničar | 1-1 |  Santos FC | Santos' Yugoslav Tour | — Željo: Radović, Hrvat, Bećirspahić, Saračević, Hadžiabdić, Bratić, Jelušić, Osim (Deraković), Bukal, Musemić (Janković), and Bajić (Kojović); head coach: Milan Ribar — Santos: Gilmar, Delgado, Turcão, Lima, Clodoaldo, Joel, Manoel Maria, Nené, 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 | FK Željezničar | 3-3 |  Inter Milan | FK Željezničar 50th Anniversary | — Željo: Janjuš, Kojović, Bećirspahić, Bratić, Katalinski, Hadžiabdić, Jelušić, 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 | FK Sarajevo | 2-2 |  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 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] |
| 11 June 1986 | Estrada Team Sarajevo | 3-4 | Estrada Team Belgrade | Raising funds for the Bentbaša pool renovation | — Estrada Team Sarajevo: Džinović, Rizvanbegović, Popović, Varešanović, Vojičić, Kusturica, Karajlić; head coach: Boško Antić — Estrada Team Belgrade: Šaulić, Topalović, Mijatović; head coach: Dragan Džajić — scorers: Kusturica, Mijatović, Mijatović, Mijatović — attendance: 62,000 — referees: Miodrag Čolić and Salem Prolić[14] — the exhibition match was played at Koševo Stadium midweek in-between two Yugoslav First League scheduled fixture weeks[15] |
- Zdravko Čolić - 7 September 1978 (Putujući zemljotres Tour, the concert got stopped midway through due to heavy rain)
- U2 - 23 September 1997 (PopMart Tour)
- Dino Merlin - 31 July 2000 (Sredinom Tour, guests: Adi Lukovac & Ornamenti, Ivana Banfić, Amir Bjelanović Tula, Miro Asotić)
- Dino Merlin - 31 July 2004 (Burek Tour, guests: Željko Joksimović, Ivana Banfić, Nina Badrić, Edo Zanki, Almir Hukelić, Gani Tamir)
- Bijelo dugme - 15 June 2005
- Haris Džinović - 23 June 2007 (guests: Halid Bešlić, Hari Varešanović, Željko Joksimović, Enis Bešlagić)
- Moj ummete 2007 - 28 July 2007
- Dino Merlin - 19 July 2008 (Ispočetka Tour, guests: Hari Varešanović, Vesna Zmijanac, Tony Cetinski, Eldin Huseinbegović, Ivana Banfić, Baby Dooks, Elvedin Krilić)
- Hari Mata Hari - 10 August 2009 (Sreća Tour, guests: Nina Badrić, Dino Merlin, Halid Bešlić, Dražen Žerić Žera, Eldin Huseinbegović)
- Željko Joksimović - 12 June 2010 (guests: Halid Bešlić, Hari Varešanović, Jelena Tomašević)
- Zdravko Čolić - 31 July 2010 (Kad pogledaš me preko ramena Tour, guests: Dino Merlin, Nikša Bratoš)
- Halid Bešlić - 22 June 2013 (Romanija Tour, guests: Haris Džinović, Željko Joksimović, Enes Begović, Dženan Jahić, Viki Miljković, Colonia, Enis Bešlagić)
- Dino Merlin - 25 July 2015 (Hotel Nacional Tour)
- Željko Joksimović - 19 August 2016
- Marija Šerifović - 1 July 2018 (guests: Jelena Karleuša)
- Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass in the stadium in front of 50,000 people - 13 April 1997
- Pope Francis celebrated Mass in the stadium in front of 67,000 people - 6 June 2015
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