Ministry of Sports Decides to Demolish Shiroodi Stadium

A member of the Tehran City Council announced the Ministry of Sports' decision to demolish Shiroodi Stadium (Amjadieh) for the construction of a commercial complex. On Wednesday, January 13, Mahmoud Goudarzi attended the Tehran City Council to discuss the ministry's actions in Tehran. Abbas Jadidi commented, "The Ministry of Sports' decision is to turn it into a commercial complex, and I hope they reconsider this decision. This stadium is part of our cultural heritage and the history of our country. Moreover, that area of Tehran already cannot handle the traffic load." The sports news site Varzesh 3 highlighted the headline "Strange Decision by the Ministry of Sports to Demolish Shiroodi Stadium" in a video interview with the city council representative. The Ministry of Sports has not disclosed details of its plan for the stadium's demolition. The ministry's news portal did not mention the demolition in its report of the meeting and did not reference the objections of city council representatives. The official site of the ministry states: "Goudarzi called for the council's cooperation to achieve the defined goals of this project, which could lead to the development of sports in the metropolis of Tehran." Last year, for the umpteenth time since the 1979 revolution in Iran, information was provided about the "comprehensive plan for the reconstruction of Shiroodi Stadium." Plans that are halted with changes in government, leaving Amjadieh to its fate. The caretaker of this stadium told the IRNA news agency: "The Shiroodi complex will not be demolished all at once for reconstruction. In the first phase, the southern side will be demolished to construct the commercial and sports complex. In this section of the reconstruction, the initial floors will be commercial, and the upper part will house sports halls." These statements did not clearly indicate the demolition of the stadium. However, with the start of the transfer of electrical posts from this complex, it became clear that Amjadieh would bid farewell to its history, or at least a significant part of it. While the city council protests the demolition of Amjadieh, the funding for the project comes from the Ministry of Sports' budget and with the participation of the municipality. Amjadieh is the stadium that hosted Iran's first qualification for the Olympics in 1964, the first Asian Cup championship in 1968, the first derby between Persepolis and Taj, and the first championship of an Iranian team in the Asian Club Cup in 1970. The land for the stadium was purchased from Amjad Nezam in 1927. After eleven years, the plan to build the first football field with a capacity of 25,000 was completed, and a few months later, the first nationwide championship competitions in various sports were held at Amjadieh. These competitions marked the serious beginning of modern sports in Iran. This stadium has hosted the Iranian national team for 30 years and hosted forgotten derbies between Taj, Shahin, Darayi, and Persepolis from the 1950s to the 1970s. The weightless champion of traditional wrestling in Iran has been selected several times on the grass of Amjadieh. This stadium was the eye of Iranian sports until the opening of Aryamehr Stadium. After the revolution, it was renamed after Ali Akbar Shiroodi, a helicopter pilot in the Army. In 1994, the "comprehensive fundamental reconstruction plan" for this stadium was entrusted to Saeed Faghihi, which later proved to be lacking in comprehensiveness and did not have a noticeable impact on the quality of the stadium. The plan to convert Amjadieh into the "Great Museum of Sports in Iran" was also forgotten. Despite the lack of major football competitions held at this stadium, its auxiliary halls are of key importance for various sports. For example, the Jahangir Toofigh wrestling hall has been the most important training hall for national sports in Iran in recent decades. The multi-purpose Afrasiabi Stadium, two boxing halls, a covered hall, ten clay tennis courts, two artificial grass fields, martial arts in the Kabkaniyan hall, badminton and ping-pong halls, the late Davoodi's climbing wall, the Azarpi gymnastics hall, the Kalahdoz fencing hall, bodybuilding, weightlifting, and shooting, like the athletics track of the stadium, remain active. The open championship swimming pool is the oldest swimming pool in Iran. The "9 Dey" swimming pool was also inaugurated by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Tajiki swimming pool (for women) and the Shahid Hassan Novfall swimming pool are also located in this complex. Adjacent to the stadium is Varzandeh Street, which houses many sports federations. The nearby shops, coffee houses, sandwich shops, and sports equipment stores around Amjadieh are also considered part of the memories of Iranian sports.