National Olympic Stadium here to stay as home venue

 

The National Olympic Stadium, which is seeing an upgrade with the installation of brand new seats on its bleachers, will remain the home venue for the Cambodian National Football Team.

“If we play any friendly matches or a few consecutive games, we will host them at the National Olympic Stadium because it is centrally located in the city and makes it convenient for supporters to attend,” Keo Sareth, secretary-general of the Football Federation of Cambodia (FFC) told the Khmer Times yesterday morning.

“However, if we organise a large competition, we will undoubtedly require additional venues to host the matches. Therefore, we would also use the football complex at Morodok Techo Stadium,” he added.

Morodok Techo Stadium is a new multi-purpose stadium that was opened in 2021. The new stadium hosted the official opening and closing ceremonies of the 32nd SEA Games along with athletics and running events last year. The new stadium is situated on the northern outskirts of Phnom Penh.

It is noteworthy that last year the National Olympic Stadium hosted all of Cambodia’s major football tournaments, including men’s football matches at the 32nd SEA Games in May last year, as well as friendly matches between Cambodia’s National Senior Football Team and Bangladesh in June, and two other friendly matches against Hong Kong and Macau in September.

The Cambodian National Team last played at the Olympic Stadium in October, when they met Pakistan in the first-round qualifier for the FIFA World Cup 2026.

The National Olympic Stadium is the nation’s oldest and most renowned sporting venue. Constructed in the 1960s, the venue is currently undergoing major renovations with the installation of new bleachers that meet FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) standards.

The new seating qualifies the stadium to host major international football matches and tournaments.

Keo Sareth updated Khmer Times recently with news that installation of the new seating arrangement is 90% complete and will be finished early in March.

The FFC held a public contest in December last year, inviting talented Cambodian designers to submit their ideas for a new seating system for the stadium.

Hor Monyrith’s design garnered the most public votes and was selected.

His new design places white seats among blue and red seats, representing the colours of the Cambodian national flag, and he said that it symbolises the united spirit of the people.

On both sides of the stadium, the colour of the new seats depict “Pkar Chan” patterns that show off a traditional form of Khmer art.

The term “Pkar Chan” describes a style of various related popular traditional art forms that are expressed in architecture, textiles and handicrafts. “Pkar Chan” highlights the particular style of deep artistic expression unique to Cambodian culture.

The National Olympic Stadium’s Infrastructure Management Committee began installing new bleacher seats in early January.

After the new seating installation is complete in March, the stadium bleachers will accommodate 30,000 spectators on comfortable plastic seats.

In total, the renovation will cost approximately half a million dollars. The ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) is funding the project.

The audience is full of admiration and gratitude for the efforts of the FFC to build the new seats in a visually appealing style.

Some fans have asked the federation to look into building a roof over the stadium so that spectators may feel more comfortable, especially on wet or sweltering days.