National Stadium, Municipal sports stadium in Dili, Timor-Leste.
The National Stadium of Timor-Leste, also called the Municipal Stadium of Dili, is a multi-purpose venue in Dili with a capacity of 5,000. An athletics track surrounds the field, and two grandstands stand on the eastern and western sides, the main one roofed. The 2016 renovation added seats to the grandstand, bathrooms, electricity rooms and lighting poles.
In 1999–2000, during the East Timorese crisis, the stadium served as a makeshift refugee camp and emergency relief distribution point. On 21 December 1999 it hosted the Tour of Duty concert for INTERFET troops, featuring Kylie Minogue and John Farnham. In 2006 it again housed over 1,000 displaced people. Renovations began in 2011 and 2016; the 2016 project, valued at US$1.64 million, was still unfinished in mid-2019.
Since 2004 the stadium has hosted the finals of the Super Liga Timorense, the Taça Digicel and later the Taça 12 de Novembro and the Liga Futebol Amadora. Its grounds include the area known as Kampo Demokrasia, and in June 2022 the site was assigned to the East Timor Football Federation under a long-term contract with FIFA. On 12 March 2015 it staged Timor-Leste's first international home match, a 4–1 win over Mongolia in 2018 World Cup qualifying.
The stadium sits in central Dili, with two grandstands on the eastern and western sides of the field; only the main grandstand is roofed, so pick a seat there for shade. The national team has sometimes played home fixtures abroad because of infrastructure problems, so check where a match is actually staged before travelling.
In 2005 Cristiano Ronaldo visited the stadium in Dili and posed for a photograph with then-President Xanana Gusmão. The meeting came a year after the stadium began hosting the finals of the Super Liga Timorense.
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