It was built in 1957 by the Lebanese Ministry of Youth &amp; Fine Arts in the presidency of Camille Chamoun. The opening game was a friendly played against Energia Ploiești, where Lebanon won 1–0 through a goal scored by Joseph Abou Murad. The stadium was completely demolished in the Israeli Invasion of 1982. Consequently, former Lebanese PM Rafic Hariri initiated a project to rebuild the stadium in preparation for the 2000 AFC Asian Cup. The reconstruction received funding from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, with respective contributions of 20 million and 5 million U.S. dollars. The other 75 million U.S. dollars were provided by the Lebanese government. The renovation process of the bordering "Pierre Gemayel Hall" was also included in the overall project.