TAICHUNG (TVBS News) — Construction of Taiwan's most ambitious soccer facility has passed the halfway mark, with Taichung's Sports Bureau (台中市運動局), the city's athletics governing body, announcing Tuesday (April 8) that the Taichung International Soccer Stadium project has reached 51% completion. The development has garnered increased attention in Taiwan's sporting circles following recent controversy when New Zealand's women's national soccer team withdrew from a scheduled competition at the Kaohsiung Nanzih Football Stadium (高雄楠梓足球場) in southern Taiwan. Despite challenges, officials maintain the project remains on schedule for its planned June 2026 inauguration.
When completed, the expansive sports complex will house a primary stadium featuring natural grass playing surfaces and a complementary secondary stadium with artificial turf, both configured to international standards for 11-a-side soccer matches. The facility, designed to accommodate 6,000 spectators, represents a milestone in Taiwan's sporting infrastructure as the island's first purpose-built soccer sports park. Officials from the Sports Bureau provided a construction update, confirming that critical foundational elements — including the underground parking facility and concrete grandstand structures — have been successfully completed, while crews are currently engaged in backfilling operations and construction of the secondary stadium facilities.
The ambitious project has experienced budget adjustments during its development phase, with total costs rising from an initial NT$1.27 billion (US$38.5 million) to NT$1.5 billion (US$45.5 million) due to several design modifications. These revisions encompass upgrades to stadium amenities, international certification requirements for the secondary stadium's artificial playing surface, and expanded spectator seating capacity. Taichung City Councilor Liu Shih-chou (劉士州), representing local constituents, highlighted the community's growing excitement for the facility while pressing municipal authorities to maintain both the project timeline and construction quality standards necessary for hosting prestigious international soccer competitions in the future.