Istaravshan Arena

Nothing about the arena is new in the sense of a greenfield build: what stands there now is the old Central Stadium of Istaravshan, rebuilt rather than replaced, which is why the older name still turns up in listings alongside the current one.

The reopening belongs to a specific date. On 27 October 2012 the ceremony marking the end of the reconstruction was held with the president of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, in attendance — the stadium was presented then as one of the largest in the country.

The playing surface is natural grass. The capacity figure is the one point on which the record does not settle: the club's own site puts it at 18,000, while other listings carry 20,000, and no governing-body certification has been published either way.

The name has moved with the town, and the ground's earlier titles — Central Stadium of Istaravshan, simply Istaravshan Stadium — persist in enough places that a reader chasing the venue will meet all three. All refer to the same site on Dusti.