Under Sukarno: construction and inauguration After the
Asian Games Federation declared Jakarta to host the
1962 Asian Games in 1958, the minimum requirement that yet to be met by the
Jakarta was the availability of a multi-sport complex. In response to this, President
Sukarno issued Presidential Decree No. 113/1959 dated 11 May 1959 about the establishment of the Asian Games Council of Indonesia (DAGI) led by
Minister of Sports Maladi. As an architect and civil engineering graduate, Sukarno proposed a location near M. H. Thamrin Boulevard and
Menteng (
Karet,
Pejompongan, or
Dukuh Atas) for the future sports complex. then Sukarno accompanied
Friedrich Silaban, a renowned architect to review the location of the proposed sports complex by helicopter. Silaban disagreed with the selection of Dukuh Atas because he argued the construction of a sports complex in the center the future downtown area will potentially create a massive traffic congestion. Sukarno agreed Silaban suggestion and instead assigned the Senayan area with an area of approximately 300 hectares. Construction began on 8 February 1960 and finished on 21 July 1962, in time to host the
following month's Asian Games. It was built as part of Sukarno's construction sprees before the 1962 Asian Games and the centerpiece of the
Sports Complex. Its construction was partially funded through a special loan from the
Soviet Union. The stadium's original capacity was 110,000 people. The stadium is well known for its gigantic ring-shaped
facade (a.k.a. "
temu gelang"), as the world's first circular roof football stadium and also was designed to shade spectators from the sun, and increase the grandeur of the stadium. The idea came from Sukarno himself and although Soviet architects didn't want to implement
temu gelang at first due to its unusual design, but Sukarno insisted and he got his way in the end. At the 1985 Perserikatan Final, Match
Persib Bandung against
PSMS Medan which was held at this stadium became an amateur match with the largest attendance of 150,000 spectators. The match was finally won by
PSMS Medan. The stadium's capacity was then reduced further to 88,306 as a result of renovations for the
2007 AFC Asian Cup. The stadium served as the main venue of the
2018 Asian Games and
Asian Para Games, hosting the ceremonies and athletics. It underwent renovations in preparation for the events; to comply with
FIFA standards, all of the stadium's existing seating was replaced, including its remaining bleachers, making it an
all-seater with a capacity of 77,193. The new seats are coloured in red, white, and grey—resembling a waving
flag of Indonesia. A new, brighter LED lighting system was also installed, with 620 fixtures, and an RGB lighting system was installed on the stadium's facade. Improvements were also made to the stadium's accessibility. The 2016–18 renovation of this stadium cost Rp769,69 billion (around US$59 million with 2016 exchange rate). ==Sporting events==