Color Line Stadion

Color Line Stadion is an association football stadium in Ålesund, Norway, and the home of Norwegian Premier League side Aalesunds FK. It was inaugurated in April 2005 and cost NOK 160 million to build. It is referred to as Aalesund Stadion by UEFA.It was the first top-level stadium in Norway to feature artificial turf, which was at the time a highly debated issue. When Aalesund opened the stadium, businessman Olav Nils Sunde donated a statue to the club, which was erected in front of the stadium. Whilst Sunde denied it, the statue bore a very strong resemblance to former Aalesund player John Arne Riise. In 2007, when Riise played in the Champions League Final, a Norwegian commentator demanded the statue officially carry his name. Riise himself has said, [The name change] is not for me to decide. Everyone sees who it is, and I know that it was made for me.Since 2009 it has also hosted the home games of the Norwegian Women's Premier League side Fortuna Ålesund. The venue has hosted one Norway national under-21 football team match, playing 1–3 against Cyprus on 3 September 2010. In a 2012 survey carried out by the Norwegian Players' Association among away-team captains, Color Line Stadion was ranked eleventh amongst league stadiums, with a score of 2.87 on a scale from one to five.
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