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Fatorda Football Stadium is Goa’s pride and also a grand sight for all football fans in and away from Goa. Also known as Fatorda Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, it sits in a green picturesque location well-guarded by gentle hills around it and is magnificent in its stature.
Having a capacity of around 19,000 spectators, Fatorda Stadium houses some associations like Goa Referees Association, Goa Taekwondo Association, Youth Hostel Association of India (Goa) and an AIFF office.
Plans have also been made to accommodate Goa Judo Association and Goa Volleyball Association in future.
History
Fatorda was built as a football only stadium but in less than a year was redeveloped to include cricket. It was opened in 1989 and was built in a record six months’ time.
On 25 October 1989, the first cricket ODI was played between Australia and Sri Lanka. Nine one day international matches have been hosted in this stadium.
Major Matches
Owned and operated by the Sports Authority of Goa, the venue has been used to host both international football as well as cricket matches.
Fatorda has hosted many international games including India's qualifiers for both the FIFA World Cup and AFC Asian Cup. The major Goan clubs like FC Goa, Dempo S.C., Churchill Brothers S.C., Salgaocar S.C. and Sporting Clube de Goa have been the home teams for this stadium.
The Fatorda Stadium was among one of the six stadiums to host the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup matches in India.
The venue was renovated in 2014 for the Lusofonia Games. Being a mainstay of Indian football, it has played host to many international games.
Recent Matches
This stadium was the main venue for the AFC U-16 Championship played in India in 2016, which also served as Asian qualifiers for the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017.
The home matches of Indian Super League team FC Goa are held at this very stadium.
