Abbasiyyin Stadium – stadium description

Damascus's largest stadium started off as a modest athletics ground back in 1957. It wasn't until 1976 that it began to house football games after a thorough redevelopment. This brought capacity well up from just 10,000 to some 45,000 people.

Its sheer size meant becoming one of two most important stadia in Syria along with Aleppo's Al-Hamadaniah Stadium. This changed only in 2011 when – just before the civil war broke out – seats where installed all across the ground to decrease capacity to 30,000.

Though it was never the national stadium of Syria, it played host to numerous international fixtures of the national team. Week-to-week use is provided by three local clubs.