Gelora Bung Karno Stadium

Coordinates: 6°13′6.88″S 106°48′9.04″E / 6.2185778°S 106.8025111°E / -6.2185778; 106.8025111

The Gelora Bung Karno Stadium (formerly Gelora Senayan Main Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium located within the Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex, Senayan, Central Jakarta, Indonesia. The stadium is named after Sukarno, Indonesia's first President.^[1] It is mostly used for football matches and has a seating capacity of over 88,083.

Name

Although the stadium is popularly known as Gelora Bung Karno Stadium (Stadion Gelora Bung Karno) ot GBK Stadium, its official name is Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium (Stadion Utama Gelora Bung Karno), as there are other stadiums in the Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex, such as the Tennis Stadium and the Swimming Stadium. During the New Order era under the "de-Sukarno-ization" policy by former President Suharto, the complex was renamed "Gelora Senayan Complex" and the stadium was renamed "Gelora Senayan Main Stadium".

History

The stadium under construction, April 1962.

Construction began on February 8, 1960 and finished on July 21, 1962.'^[2] in time to host the fourth Asian Games which were held in Jakarta. Its construction was partially funded through a special loan from the Soviet Union. The stadium's original capacity of 120,800 people was reduced to 88,083 as a result of renovations for the 2007 Asian Cup.^[3] It is divided into 24 sectors and 12 entrances, and into upper and lower stands. The special feature of this stadium is the huge steel roof construction that forms a gigantic ring called temu gelang (joined ring). Other than to shade the spectators in all sectors from the heat of tropical sun, the purpose of this giant ring construction is also to emphasize the grandeur of the stadium.^[4]

Events in the Stadium

GBK Stadium hosted the 2007 Asian Cup Final between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Other competitions held there are several Tiger Cup finals and domestic cup finals.

International

• Host for the 1962 Asian Games.
• Host of SEA Games in 1979, 1987, 1997 and 2011.
• Host for the 1989 Sudirman Cup.
• Joint Host for the 2002 Tiger Cup with Singapore.
• Host for the ASEAN Club Championship 2003.
• Host for the 2004 Tiger Cup first leg semifinal match between Indonesia and Malaysia and first leg final match between Indonesia and Singapore.
• Host of 2007 AFC Asian Cup for Group D matches, quarterfinals and the final between Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
• Host of 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup for first Leg semifinal match between Indonesia vs Thailand.
• Host of 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup for Group A matches, semifinal matches against Philippines and second leg final match between Indonesia and Malaysia.
• Home matches of the Indonesia national football team international matches.
• Host for the Inter Milan 2011 Preseason Tour.
• Host for the LA Galaxy 2011 Asia Preseason Tour.
• Host for the Valencia 2012 Asia Preseason Tour.
• Host for the Arsenal 2013 Asia Preseason Tour.
• Host for the Liverpool 2013 Asia Preseason Tour.
• Host for the Chelsea 2013 Asia Preseason Tour.
• Host for the Juventus 2014 Asia Preseason Tour.
• Host for the Asian Dream Cup 2014 against Park Ji-sung and Friends foundation.
• Host for the Roma 2015 Asia Preseason Tour.
• Host for the 2018 Asian Games.

Other uses

Other than sports, the stadium is also used for other events such as national ceremonies, political gatherings, admission exams, religious affairs, concerts, etc. Notable events include:

• The Grand Catholic mass led by Pope John Paul II, in October 1989.^[5]
• Khilafah Conference International, Time for Khilafah Leads the World. Organized by Hizb ut-Tahrir on 12 August 2007.^[6]
• The 100 year anniversary of Indonesian National Awakening day, 20 May 2008.^[7]
• The political rally for both of parliamentary and also presidential elections in 2004, 2009, and 2014.
• Christmas event jointly organized by the Indonesia Bethel Church for the whole district since 2006 until now (only absent in 2012).
• Indonesia Tiberias Church Christmas event for the whole district since 2011 until now.
• Jubileum HKBP (147th in 2007 and 150th in 2011).
• Mukatamar Khilafah. Organized by Hizb ut-Tahrir held on 2 June 2013 and in other cities in Indonesia earlier.^[8]
• Admission exams for thousands Indonesia ministry of health prospective civil servants on 3 November 2013.^[9]
• 1436H meetings and great marches titled "Bersama Umat Tegakkan Khilafah". Organized by Hizb ut-Tahrir held on 30 May 2015 and in other cities in Indonesia earlier.^[10]

Concerts and shows

• British Rock Band, Deep Purple held a concert on 4 December 1975. It was the first concert ever held in the stadium and also estimated as the biggest concert ever held at the stadium, because the concert was estimated attended by 150,000 audiences.
• Linkin Park held "A Thousand Suns World Tour" concert with over 25.000 tickets sold in September 2011.
• Lady Gaga planned to hold a concert as part of her "Born This Way Ball" in the stadium on June 3, 2012, with 52,000 tickets being sold, but due to a protest the concert was cancelled.
• SM Entertainment held "SMTown Live World Tour III" concert which is the biggest K-Pop concert held in Indonesia on 22 September 2012 with more than 50.000 tickets sold.
• KBS held "Music Bank World Tour" concert which is the second biggest k-pop concert to be held in Indonesia on 9 March 2013.
• Metallica held a concert on August 25, 2013 with more than 60,000 tickets sold.
• Slank held a concert on December 13, 2013.
• RCTI celebrated its 25th anniversary in the stadium on August 23, 2014.
• One Direction performed a sold out concert in the stadium on their "On the Road Again Tour" on March 25, 2015 with 43.032 tickets sold.^[11]
• Bon Jovi held Bon Jovi Live! Tour concert in the stadium on September 11, 2015.

2018 Asian Games

Indonesia will host the 2018 Asian Games. It will be held in Jakarta and Palembang. Gelora Bung Karno is chosen to hold the Asian Games event. Due to the age of this stadium, the government had planned to make an improvement for the stadium to meet the Asian Games criteria.

Gallery

• 

  Gelora Bung Karno Stadium during 2007 AFC Asian Cup.

• 

  The interior of main lobby on west side of the stadium.

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  Football field of Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.

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  A view of Jakarta's Bung Karno Stadium from the 46th floor of Wisma 46

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  An artist perform on the stage during SMTown Live World Tour III in Gelora Bung Karno Stadium Jakarta

Footnotes

Bibliography

• Pour, Julius (2004), Dari Gelora Bung Karno ke Gelora Bung Karno (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Grasindo, ISBN 978-979-732-444-5. 

See also

• List of stadiums by capacity

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.

• Pusat Pengelolaan Komplek Gelora Bung Karno - Official Website

Preceded by 700th Anniversary Stadium Chiang Mai	Southeast Asian Games Athletics Competitions Main Venue 1997	Succeeded by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium Bandar Seri Begawan
Preceded by Workers Stadium Beijing	AFC Asian Cup Final Venue 2007	Succeeded by Khalifa Stadium Doha
Preceded by Incheon Munhak Stadium Incheon	Asian Games Football tournament Final Venue 2018	Succeeded by TBD