The Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium (Greek: Στάδιο Γεώργιος Καραϊσκάκης [staðio karaiˈskakis]) is a football stadium in the Neo Faliro area of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece. It is the home ground of the Greek club Olympiacos F.C. and is named after Georgios Karaiskakis, a military commander of the Greek War of Independence, who was mortally wounded near the area.
It was used during the 1896 Summer Olympics as the Neo Phaliron 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 32,115 capacity, all seater stadium, ready for the football competition of the 2004 Summer Olympics.
The stadium was totally demolished and built again from the beginning, facing a different direction. This complete reconstruction took a record time of only 14 months, finishing just in time for the Olympic Games. After the last deal ended in 1998, Olympiacos is using the stadium once again, on a 49-year lease from 2003 until 2052 and is traditionally identified as the club's true home.
Karaiskakis Stadium is classified as a 4-star football stadium by the UEFA organisation, allowing it to host the UEFA Europa League 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 and a gym.
The stadium also hosts Olympiacos Museum, dedicated not only to the history of the football club, but to the history of all the departments of the multiple European title-winning multi-sport club Olympiacos CFP.
There is no extra charge for the parking area, which takes up to 2,500 cars. Due to its design, the stadium's tribunes have the ability to empty within 7 minutes. The stadium also has restaurants and stores opened during concerts and games and sometimes open with the daily general timetable of most Greek stores and shops.
The stadium is easily accessed through the Athens Mass Transit System, at the station "Faliro", which is about 15 minutes from Athens city centre, at the "Omonia" square station and also through Athens driving routes, which is 8 km, about 15 minutes from downtown Athens.
Capacity 32,115
Field size 105 x 68 m
Surface Grass
Construction cost € 60,000,000
Source: wikipedia.org