Editing Sofia (section)

==Sports==
[[File:Vasil Levski National Stadium 2022.jpg|thumb|[[Vasil Levski National Stadium]]]]
A large number of sports clubs are based in the city. During the Communist era, most sports clubs concentrated on all-round sporting development, therefore [[USC CSKA Sofia|CSKA]], [[Levski Sofia (sports club)|Levski]], [[PFC Lokomotiv Sofia|Lokomotiv]], and [[PFC Slavia Sofia|Slavia]] are dominant not only in football, but in many other team sports as well. Basketball and volleyball also have strong traditions in Sofia. A notable local [[basketball]] team is twice [[Euroleague#Champions 1958-2008|European Champions Cup]] finalist [[PBC Lukoil Academic|Lukoil Akademik]]. The [[Bulgarian Volleyball Federation]] is the world's second-oldest, and it was an exhibition tournament organised by the BVF in Sofia that convinced the [[International Olympic Committee]] to include volleyball as an [[Volleyball at the Summer Olympics#History|olympic sport]] in 1957.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.balkanvolleyball.org/News.htm 
 |title=BVA-News 
 |publisher=balkanvolleyball.org 
 |access-date=11 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220025206/http://www.balkanvolleyball.org/News.htm 
 |archive-date=20 February 2008 |url-status=dead 
}}</ref> Tennis is increasingly popular in the city. There are some ten<ref>{{cite web
 |url        = http://www.sofia.bg/templkomp.asp?ime=TENISK%7D&title=%D1%F2%EE%EB%E8%F7%E5%ED%20%EA%EE%EC%EF%E0%F1&pathtitle=sport&opis=%D1%EF%EE%F0%F2
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20020422183020/http://www.sofia.bg/templkomp.asp?ime=TENISK%7d&title=%d1%f2%ee%eb%e8%f7%e5%ed+%ea%ee%ec%ef%e0%f1&pathtitle=sport&opis=%d1%ef%ee%f0%f2
 |url-status = dead
 |archive-date = 22 April 2002
 |title      = Sofia municipality&nbsp;— Tennis courts
 |publisher  = sofia.bg
 |access-date = 11 May 2008
}}</ref> [[tennis court]] complexes within the city including the one founded by former [[Women's Tennis Association|WTA]] top-five athlete [[Magdalena Maleeva]].<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.maleevaclub.com/
| title=Тенис Клуб Малееви
| publisher=maleevaclub.com
| access-date=11 May 2008
| archive-date=14 March 2008
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080314024228/http://maleevaclub.com/
| url-status=live
}}</ref>

Sofia applied to host the [[Winter Olympic Games]] in 1992 and in 1994, coming second and third respectively. The city was also an applicant for the [[2014 Winter Olympics]], but was not selected as candidate. In addition, Sofia hosted [[EuroBasket 1957]] and the [[1961 Summer Universiade|1961]] and [[1977 Summer Universiade]]s, as well as the [[1983 Winter Universiade|1983]] and [[1989 Winter Universiade|1989 winter editions]]. In 2012, it hosted the [[FIVB World League]] finals.
[[File:Garanti Koza Sofia Open - at Arena Armeets.jpg|thumb|right|Arena Sofia during the [[ATP Sofia Open]]]]
The city is home to a number of large sports venues, including the 43,000-seat [[Vasil Levski National Stadium]] which hosts international football matches, as well as [[Stadion Balgarska Armia|Balgarska Armia Stadium]], [[Georgi Asparuhov Stadium]] and [[Lokomotiv Stadium (Sofia)|Lokomotiv Stadium]], the main venues for outdoor musical concerts. [[Arena Sofia]] holds many indoor events and has a capacity of up to 19,000 people depending on its use. The venue was inaugurated on 30 July 2011, and the first event it hosted was a friendly volleyball match between Bulgaria and Serbia. There are two [[ice skating]] complexes&nbsp;— the [[Winter Sports Palace]] with a capacity of 4,600 and the Slavia Winter Stadium with a capacity of 2,000, both containing two rinks each.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kunki.org/page.php?9 |title=Skate rinks in Sofia |publisher=kunki.org |access-date=11 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080417162144/http://kunki.org/page.php?9 |archive-date=17 April 2008 }}</ref> A [[velodrome]] with 5,000 seats in the city's [[Borisova gradina|central park]] is undergoing renovation.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://journey.bg/bulgaria/bulgaria.php?guide=1916
| title=Journey.bg&nbsp;— History of the Sofia velodrome
| publisher=journey.bg
| access-date=11 May 2008
| archive-date=15 May 2005
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050515060503/http://www.journey.bg/bulgaria/bulgaria.php?guide=1916
| url-status=live
}}</ref> There are also various other sports complexes in the city which belong to institutions other than football clubs, such as those of the [[National Sports Academy "Vasil Levski"|National Sports Academy]], the [[Bulgarian Academy of Sciences]], or those of different universities. There are more than fifteen swimming complexes in the city, most of them outdoor.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://tonus.tialoto.bg/article.php?id=2277
| title=Swimming pools in Sofia (including Spa centers)
| publisher=tonus.tialoto.bg
| access-date=11 May 2008
| archive-date=10 May 2008
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510070734/http://tonus.tialoto.bg/article.php?id=2277
| url-status=live
}}</ref> Nearly all of these were constructed as competition venues and therefore have seating facilities for several hundred people.

There are two [[golf]] courses just to the east of Sofia&nbsp;— in [[Elin Pelin]] (St Sofia club) and in [[Ihtiman]] (Air Sofia club), and a horseriding club (St George club).
Sofia was designated as European Capital of Sport in 2018. The decision was announced in November 2014 by the Evaluation Committee of ACES Europe, on the grounds that "the city is a good example of sport for all, as means to improve healthy lifestyle, integration and education, which are the basis of the initiative".