Its construction started on 1 January 2009 and was completed on 12 October 2013. The sports city was funded by the government of Iraq with a budget of $550 million. It contains a main stadium with a capacity of 65,000 people, a secondary stadium with a capacity of 10,000, four five-star hotels and other sports-related facilities.[4][5]
The contract for this project was given to Abdullah Al-Jaburi, a major Iraqi construction contractor, and two American companies, 360 architecture and Newport Global.[6]
The main stadium is a multilevel structure with 65,000 capacity, 20 suites, and 230 VIP seats. The complex also has VIP lounges and restaurants, spectator facilities, 205 VIP underground parking stalls and a tunnel connecting the main stadium to the secondary stadium. The secondary stadium has a capacity of 10,000.[7][8] The basic structure was cast-in-place concrete with precast stadia seating. The roof structure is steel and cantilever 30 meters from the back support column of the upper deck with a 15-meter back-span. The stadium is enveloped with a curtain wall of multidirectional curved elements. The complex has 10,000 parking spaces in total.[9][6]
Iraq played their first international home game in four years at the stadium on 1 June 2017, beating Jordan 1–0. It was also the first international game played at the stadium.[10]
On 10 October 2019, Iraq played their first competitive (not friendly) international game at home after eight years against Hong Kong. The result was a 2–0 win.[11]
The official name is Basra International Stadium but an other appellation is also recurrent in Iraqi sports circles and commonly used in arabic as a nickname : ملعب جذع النخلة which literally means Palm Trunk Stadium.[15][16] This denomination, also reflected in the external facade of the stadium which is inspired by the undulating bark of the date palm trees, is a clear reference to one of the characteristics of the city of Basra, well known for the cultivation and planting of vast fields of date palm trees.[17][18]
Flag bearers entering the pitch followed by both teams, Zamalek SC and Al-Zawra'a SC as well as a crowd of journalists and photographers, during the opening ceremony
Second opening friendly match between Zamalek and Al-Zawra'a
