The construction of Stadio Olimpico in Rome was started in 1928, but the stadium wasn’t actually finished until 1953. In other words, it took no less than 25 years to complete the stadium. World War II was one of the reasons for the delay.
In 1960 Rome arranged the Summer Olympics. Ahead of the competition, all standing bleachers were converted to hold seated spectators. This caused the attendance capacity to be halved, from around 100,000 to 53,000. By doing this conversion, Stadio Olimpico became the first stadium in Europe to only offer seats.
Ahead of the 1990 Football World Championship the stadium was modernized and renovated. First and foremost the number of seats was increased to over 70,000, and they also decreased the distance between the stands and the field. A roof was added as well. It was at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome that the final game was played between West Germany and Argentina.
In 1997 the latest changes were made to the stadium. They simply upgraded the stadium to live up to UEFA’s rules for stadiums where Champions League finals are played. Today, Rome’s Stadio Olimpico is a five star stadium according to the UEFA ranking.
