ANKARA, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Istanbul football giants Galatasaray have become the first Turkish team to change their stadium name after Turkish President Erdogan ordered the dropping of the word 'arena' from sports stadiums last Friday,
Turkey's Football Federation (TFF) has decided to drop the word "arena" from the names of sport's venues, replacing it with "stadyumu," the Turkish word for stadium.
Following this order, football club Galatasaray changed the name of its stadium from "Turk Telekom Arena" to "Turk Telekom Stadyumu," while Besiktas renamed "Vodafone Arena" as "Vodafone Stadyumu."
Earlier on May 27, President Erdogan stated that he was against the word 'arena," and criticized the historical meaning of the word as "neither polite nor elegant."
Erdogan was referring to ancient Roman games in which gladiators and wild animals entertained spectators in large arenas, including at the Colosseum in Rome.
"We are going to remove the word 'arena' from stadiums," the president said, stressing the need for Turkey to foster the use of its own language.
