The Eleftheria Athletic Center (Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

: Αθλητικό Κέντρο "Ελευθερία"), officially named Tassos Papadopoulos

Tassos Papadopoulos

Tassos Nikolaou Papadopoulos was a Cypriot politician. He served as the fifth President of the Republic of Cyprus from February 28, 2003 to February 28, 2008.His parents were Nicolas and Aggeliki from Assia. He was the first of three children...

 Eleftheria Indoor Hall ( is an indoor arena beside Makario Stadium

Makario Stadium

Makario Stadium is an all seater Multi-purpose stadium in Nicosia, Cyprus. It was the largest and main sports venue of the capital up to the construction of the new GSP stadium in 1999. At present it is mostly used for football matches and is the home ground of Digenis Morphou and Ethnikos Assia....

 and Lefkotheo Indoor Hall in Engomi

Engomi

This article is about the suburb of Nicosia. For the ancient settlement near Famagusta, see: EnkomiEngomi is a suburb of the Cypriot capital Nicosia. It has a population of around 13,600 . It is a mainly residential neighbourhood with many large villas...

, Nicosia

Nicosia

Nicosia from , known locally as Lefkosia , is the capital and largest city in Cyprus, as well as its main business center. Nicosia is the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line...

, Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

. It is the home venue of the Omonia BC

Omonia BC

Omonia , is a Cypriot professional basketball club based in Nicosia, Cyprus. The club competes in the Cypriot League. The president of the team is Miltiades Neophytou and the current manager is Kyriacos Adamou.-History:...

, ETHA Engomis

ETHA Engomis

ETHA Engomis , is a Cypriot professional basketball club based in Engomi, Cyprus. The club competes in the Cypriot League and in the EuroChallenge.-History:...

 and Cyprus national basketball team

Cyprus national basketball team

The Cypriot national basketball team is the national team of Cyprus. It is run by the Cyprus Basketball Federation. It is affiliated to FIBA, in the FIBA Europe zone.- History :The team participates at international and European tournaments...

. Currently the arena has a capacity around 6,800 seats and it is the biggest sports indoor hall in the island. It was built in 1993.

The hall is used mainly for basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 events, although can be used for badminton

Badminton

Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...

, gymnastics

Gymnastics

Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...

, karate

Karate

is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...

, taekwondo

Taekwondo

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...

, handball

Team handball

Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...

, squash, volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

, judo

Judo

is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...

, table tennis

Table tennis

Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...

. Sometimes is used for national celebrations, for the declaration of the new President of Cyprus and also sometimes for musical concerts.

It hosted several great basketball and other sports competitions and also some cultural competitions. The most important was Miss Universe 2000

Miss Universe 2000

Miss Universe 2000, the 49th Miss Universe pageant was held at Eleftheria Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus on May 12, 2000. 79 delegates from around the universe competed for the crown. At the conclusion of the final night, Lara Dutta of India was crowned as the new Miss Universe 2000 by Miss Universe...

 where Lara Dutta

Lara Dutta

Lara Dutta Bhupathi is an Indian actress, UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador, and former Miss Universe.-Early life:Dutta was born in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh to a Punjabi father and an Anglo-Indian mother. Her father is Wing Commander L.K. Dutta and her mother is Jennifer Dutta...

 of India won the title and was awarded as Miss Universe 2000. 79 delegates competed for the crown. The European Saporta Cup final

Saporta Cup

Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European professional club basketball competition, where the National Cup winners from all over Europe played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA Europe...

 in 1997 between Real Madrid

Real Madrid Baloncesto

Real Madrid Baloncesto is a Spanish professional basketball team founded in 1932 as a division of the Real Madrid club. They play in the Asociación de Clubes de Baloncesto ....

 and Verona, where Real Madrid won the trophy and the FIBA All Star Game in 2005 were held in that arena. It also hosted some Cypriot basketball finals for Championship

Cyprus Basketball Division 1

The Cypriot First Division A of the Men’s Basketball League is currently the top competition on the Cyprus Basketball calendar. It is run and governed by the Cyprus Basketball Federation...

and Cup.

External links

Eleftheria Indoor Hall by Omonia web site