- Address: Mogadishu
- Country: Somalia
- Capacity: 65,000
- Opened: 1977
- Main use: Football
- Tenants:
Extra stadium info – Garoonka Muqdisho
The stadium was constructed with the assistance of Chinese engineers. It opened as the largest sports venue by capacity in Somalia. After the start of the civil war in Somalia in the early 1990s, the stadium was used as a base by several armed factions. It hosted a few football matches during the period when the facility was under the control of militants. In 2013, the newly established government of Somalia began renovating the stadium in conjunction with Chinese officials. The renovation was completed in 2020.
Mortar blasts
At least three mortar blasts sent sports fans in Somalia ducking for cover hours after the venue named Garoonka Muqdisho reopened in July 2020. The mortar shells struck in and around the stadium. The blasts occurred after Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, who became the president of Somalia in 2017, attended the reopening ceremonies. The ceremonies included a football match. Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed left before the shells hit. A live television broadcast captured the sound of one of the blasts.
