The complex was initially built for the 1974 Asian Games, with a future Olympic Games bid in mind. A year later it was presented as part of Tehran's unsuccessful bid to host the 1984 Summer Olympics.[1] In 2013, the website Bleacher Report listed the Azadi Sports Complex as one of the top 20 stadiums in the world.[2]
During the 2026 Iran war, parts of the sports complex was struck by Israeli-American bombing. The Azadi Indoor Stadium was destroyed by airstrikes targeting Iranian security forces, resulting in hundreds of military casualties.[4]
