Zetra Olympic Complex

Zetra Olympic Hall was constructed specifically for the 1984 Olympic Winter Games. It is the largest such facility in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its main building, the Hall, is the home of the country’s national handball, futsal and ice hockey teams, its National Olympic Committee, and the ZOI’84 Olympic Legacy Foundation. Up to 17 different sports are played at the complex. Used widely by the local community, its facilities include tennis courts, outdoor basketball and football pitches, indoor and outdoor ice rinks, billiard sports hall, bowling alley, pistol range and a gym.

Also a venue for concerts, trade shows and conferences, it hosted the ice hockey competition at the 2019 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival and staged the 2018 European Cadet Judo Championships. The city’s Olympic Museum took up temporary residence at the Hall in 2004, before returning to its original location in October 2020.

Zetra Olympic Hall was renamed the Juan Antonio Samaranch Olympic Hall in 2010, upon the death of the former IOC President, who was instrumental in the IOC’s support for the rebuilding of the complex. Samaranch had officially opened the Hall following its construction for the XIV Olympic Winter Games, when it hosted ice hockey matches – including the finals – the figure skating competitions and the Closing Ceremony.

The Hall was central to post-Games efforts to encourage the city’s young people to take up sport, a legacy that has been passed down through successive generations.

It was one of many Olympic venues to be targeted when Sarajevo came under siege at the start of the Bosnian War, and was shelled and largely destroyed on 25 May 1992. The largest building in the city, it was subsequently used as a morgue and for storing United Nations equipment and vehicles.

After the war, the Hall was rebuilt as part of a reconstruction process headed up by the Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR), a NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force. The IOC donated USD 11.5 million to the rebuilding project, which was completed in 1999.

To one side of the Zetra Hall lies the Zetra Ice Rink, which staged the speed skating competitions at Sarajevo 1984, but which also burned down during the war. The rink underwent restoration work in 2010 and 2017, and a small, covered ice rink and artificial football pitch have also been installed. It is now used for summertime training, community and recreational sports, and festivals.

To the other side are a number of football pitches, which also formed part of the complex. Some of these pitches were used as cemeteries during the Bosnian War. The others are used for training and competitions by the local community on a daily basis.