Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (Delhi) – stadium description

The ground was opened in 1982 and is one of numerous venues cross India to be named after the country’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Thanks to massive double-tiered stands and very large field of play (enabling both football, athletics and cricket) it could accommodate even 100,000 in its best days.

However, it wasn’t used too often over the years. No football team has claimed tenancy in the long run with even the national side splitting games between many venues. Some cricket games also didn’t fill the calendar year after year. On the other hand – the stadium hosted its first large concert before many others, in 1988. It was when Sting, Bruce Springsteen and Tracy Chapman (among others) came to promote human rights awareness with Amnesty International.

Good days returned to the dilapidating stadium in 2006 as international competition for redevelopment was won by German GMP Architekten. Completely new roof based on massive steel rings surrounding the stands covered stands which were also extensively refurbished.

Capacity dropped, but by 2010 the ground was ready to host its first Commonwealth Games. And despite scandal surrounding lack of maintenance just several months later, the stadium was given another big event, 2013 South Asian Games.