The Mỹ Đình National Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Nam Từ Liêm, Hanoi. It has a capacity of 40,192 seats and is the centerpiece of Vietnam's National Sports Complex. It was officially opened in September 2003 and was the main venue for the Southeast Asian Games later that year, hosting the opening and closing ceremony as well as the men's football and athletics events. The stadium is home to the Vietnam national football team, and hosts its home international friendly matches. It is also home to Thể Công. Located 10 kilometres north-west of central Hanoi, the 40,000-seat stadium is the second biggest in the country in terms of capacity and was built at a cost of US$53 million. Arched roofs cover the grandstands on the east and west sides of the arena, providing shelter for half of the seats. The area provides training facilities for the teams with two football training grounds located next to the stadium.
History
Ideas for a new national stadium in Vietnam were marked up in 1998 as the government conducted a prefeasibility study for a national sports complex. In July 2000, Vietnamese Prime MinisterPhan Văn Khải approved a project of a stadium at the heart of Vietnam's National Sports Complex in preparation for hosting the 2003 Southeast Asian Games. Four firms, namely Hanoi International Group, Philipp Holzmann, Bouygues and Lemna-Keystone, participated in the bidding of the stadium's construction. The process was controversial due to violations of technical and financial requirements in HISG and Holzmann's bids, corruption allegations involving a French donation as well as the intransparency in the panel's decision making. In the end, HISG won the bid and signed a commitment contract on August 14, 2001. Construction on the stadium started in 2002. During the developmental phase, the stadium was referred to as Sân vận động Trung tâm. The stadium was architecturally complete in June 2003. In August 2003, the stadium was officially named Mỹ Đình National Stadium, taking after the name of the commune area the stadium is located within. It was inaugurated on September 2, 2003 to coincide with Vietnam's National Day.
Interior
Stands
Mỹ Đình has 4 stands. The A & B stands are covered each by an arched roof weighing 2,300 tonnes. These two stands have two tiers and are tall while the C & D stands are single-tiered and tall. In total, the stadium has a capacity of 40,192 seats, including 450 VIP seats and 160 seats for journalists.
Field
The playing grass field has a size of 105m x 67m, surrounded by an 8-lane athletics track and other athletics facilities.
The three runners-up from the third round groups played each other at a neutral venue on 25, 27 and 29 March 2012. Vietnam was later chosen by the AFC Competitions Committee as the neutral venue, with games played at Hanoi's Mỹ Đình Stadium.
On 17 July 2013, the stadium held an international friendly match between Vietnam and Arsenal.
On 27 July 2015, the stadium held an international friendly match between Vietnam and Manchester City.
Mỹ Đình National Stadium has hosted many entertainment events. On January 10, 2010, VTV held a concert featuring local famous singers. On March 27, 2010, a MTV Exit concert was held here with the appearance of Super Junior, a Korean boyband, Kate Miller, an Australian singer along with many Vietnamese singers. Recently, on October 1, 2011, the Irish boyband Westlife put a stop here as a part of their Gravity Tour; about 11,000 people attended the concert. The stadium was also the starting line of The Amazing Race Vietnam 2012. On May 26, 2013, MTV Exit held a concert featuring the Canadian pop punk bandSimple Plan to raise awareness about human trafficking and modern slavery. The stadium has also been the venue for various K-Pop concerts. It was the venue for a special concert of MBC's Music Core on December 8, 2012 and KBS's Music Bank World Tour on March 28, 2015.
