Istanbul, April 11 (IANS) The new stadium of Turkey' s leading football club Besiktas opened its doors with a grand opening ceremony with the participation of prominent state figures.
The new stadium, named "the Vodafone Arena" with a capacity of 42,000 spectators cost $100 million, reports Xinhua news agency.
Turkey' s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and government officials passed the ball for a while on the field after a spectacular opening ceremony on Sunday.
The stadium is constructed over the old one in the heart of Istanbul with a beautiful view of the Bosphorus Strait and the elegant Ottoman Dolmabahce Palace.
Its green field has been placed below sea level.
The arena contains special lounges with smart applications like Stadium Vision technology, which enables multimedia experience on screens installed throughout the stadium for fans to watch important moments of matches, and high-speed Wi-Fi.
Besiktas, which is currently leading in the Turkish Super League, has a great opportunity to attend next season's European Championship League.
They will play their first home match at this new stadium against Bursaspor on Monday.
