Pankritio Stadio

Pankritio Stadio
The Pankritio Stadio in Crete
Data
place	Heraklion in Crete
Coordinates	35 ° 20 '12 "  N , 25 ° 6' 22"  E Coordinates: 35 ° 20 '12 "  N , 25 ° 6' 22"  E
opening	March 31, 2004
First game	March 31, 2004 Greece - Switzerland (1-0)
surface	Natural grass
costs	approx. 50 million euros
architect	Vassilis Floudas & Associates
capacity	26,202 places
Societies)
Ergotelis
Events
2004 Summer Olympics (soccer) Tsiklitiria 2004 (IAAF World Challenge)

The Pankritio Stadio ( German  Pan-Cretan Stadium ) is a football stadium with an athletics facility in Heraklion , Greece . It is the largest sports facility on the island of Crete . The venue, completed in 2004, offers 26,202 seats and was the venue for some of the games in the Olympic football tournaments of the 2004 Summer Olympics . The complex includes an athletics facility , a sports pool , a hall and a training field.

Construction of the stadium began in the mid-1980s but was not completed. With the opportunity of the 2004 Summer Olympics as the location for the soccer tournament, the project was brought back to life. The sports facility was completed and inaugurated on March 31, 2004 with the friendly match between Greece and Switzerland (1-0) in front of 26,240 spectators.

Today it serves as the home stadium for the Ergotelis football club . The attendance record was set on February 20, 2005 with 27,950 spectators at the game Ergotelis against Olympiacos Piraeus . In 2004 the IAAF World Challenge track and field meeting Tsiklitiria was held in the Pankritio Stadio instead of the Athens Olympic Stadium. The reason was the Summer Olympics.

In addition to the football games, the stadium is also used as a concert venue.

Web links

• stadia.gr: Data on the stadium (English)
• stadionwelt.de: picture gallery