The stadium was built as part of a much larger complex which included numerous Olympic-sized venues for various sports, laying the groundwork for ambitious plans for Tehran to make a bid to host the Summer Olympics. In August 1975, the Iranian Shah, Tehran's Mayor and the Iranian Olympic Committee submitted a formal letter to the International Olympic Committee, notifying it of Iran's interest in hosting the 1984 Summer Games.[5] The stadium was the focal point for the bid. But political unrest in the late-1970s saw Tehran drop its bid for Games, leaving the eventual host, Los Angeles, the only city left bidding.[citation needed]
Renovations first began on the stadium in 2002. Stadium management also planned to later install seats in the upper level of the stadium. Those renovations were completed in 2003, and brought down the capacity of the stadium to well under 100,000. Later upgrades to the stadium brought it down to its current capacity of 78,116. Despite its reduced capacity, Azadi Stadium has been filled over capacity at times such as the Iran-JapanFIFA World Cup 2006 qualification match in March 2005 which resulted in the deaths of seven people.[citation needed]
In recent years the Iranian Football Federation has repeatedly submitted bids to host the AFC Asian Cup, which Iran last hosted in 1976. But some officials have hinted that rules in Iran banning women from stadiums like Azadi have kept international sports organizations from staging events there.[6] Iranian women have been banned from watching matches at Azadi Stadium since 1982.[7]
The 2006 film, "Offside" (the winner of the Silver bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2006) directed by Jafar Panahi and starring Sima Mobarak Shahi and Ida Sadeghi, about girls trying to get into the stadium to watch a football match, was filmed there.
Azadi Stadium also hosted Ferdousi festival in May 2013.
The architect of the stadium was Abdolaziz Farmanfarmaian, with some parts of the complex done in partnership with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. At the beginning, the stadium had a maximum capacity of 120,000 visitors but was decreased to 84,000 after renovations in 2003. On the big occasions the crowd swells well beyond that. The structural engineer and project manager for the building of the stadium was James Raymond Whittle from England.[citation needed]
Transportation
There is enough parking for 400 cars inside the stadium, and an additional 10,000 parking spots are available outside.[citation needed]
