El Menzah Stadium

El Menzah Stadium (French: Stade olympique d'El Menzah) is a multi-purpose stadium located in El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia. The stadium was built in 1967 for the 1967 Mediterranean Games on the site of the former Vélodrome Stadium. Its capacity is 39,858 spectators.

The Vélodrome Stadium was the stadium that preceded Stade El Menzah. It was built in 1927 on the same site and became the home stadium of US Tunis and Italia de Tunis. It had a capacity of 5,000 spectators.

The stadium was named after the president of US Tunis, Henri Smadja. It was also named after Carmel Borg, a Maltese businessman, and became known as Smadja-Borg Stadium. It served as the main stadium for the Tunisian national team during the 1930s and 1940s, and hosted the Tunisian Cup final beginning with the 1929 edition, until the construction of the Géo André Stadium in 1942.

After World War II, the stadium was renamed in honor of Victor Perez, a Tunisian boxer who became world flyweight champion in 1931 and was killed in the Nazi concentration camps in Gleiwitz in 1945.

After Tunisian independence, Géo André Stadium became the home stadium of the national team. The Vélodrome Stadium was later demolished and completely rebuilt in 1967 through cooperation between Tunisian and Bulgarian engineers.

The stadium has been closed since 2019 due to structural issues. Initial renovation work began in 2022 with a budget of 100 million dinars, but the project later evolved into a full reconstruction. As of March 2026, reconstruction is scheduled to begin in 2026 following a memorandum of understanding signed with Chinese partners in October 2025.

The project, funded by 250 million dinars in foreign loans, 117 million from the state budget, and a 150 million dinar grant from China, aims to modernize the facility with updated equipment while preserving its historic architecture. Completion is expected around 2027. The reconstruction is part of a broader redevelopment of the El Menzah Olympic complex.

The stadium was built to host the 1967 Mediterranean Games at the same time as the Olympic swimming pool and gymnasium. Since then, it has formed part of Tunisia's main sports complex. Tunisia's three major football clubs—ES Tunis, Club Africain, and Stade Tunisien—have played matches there.

The stadium was completely renovated for the 1994 African Cup of Nations. The VIP section consists of a grandstand and two lounges that can accommodate 300 people in a cocktail configuration.

The stadium hosted matches of the Tunisia national football team until the inauguration of the Stade 7 November in Radès in 2001.

Michael Jackson performed his first and only concert in Tunisia at the stadium during his HIStory World Tour on 7 October 1996, in front of 60,000 fans.

Sting performed at the stadium during his Brand New Day Tour on 28 April 2001.

Mariah Carey opened The Adventures of Mimi Tour at the stadium with concerts on 22 and 24 July 2006.

• Grandstand: 400 seats
• Press gallery: 480 seats
• Lawn: 10,952 seats
• Bleachers: 9,664 seats
• Turns: 13,056 seats
• Enclosures: 5,786 seats

• Photos of Stadiums in Tunisia at cafe.daum.net/stade
• Photos Archived 2018-06-21 at the Wayback Machine at worldstadiums.com Archived 2006-03-16 at the Wayback Machine
• Photos at fussballtempel.net
• Photos and Facts at footballmatch.de
• Stade El Menzah on the official "National Sports City" website
• StadiumDB page