Nicos Solomonides Arena

Nicos Solomonides Arena

To klouvi (The Cage) (Greek: Το κλουβί)
Full name	"Nicos Solomonides Arena" (Greek: Αίθουσα Νίκος Σολωμονίδης)[1]
Former names	Melford Arena
Location	Limassol, Cyprus
Coordinates	34°40′11.65″N 33°01′35.59″E / 34.6699028°N 33.0265528°E / 34.6699028; 33.0265528
Owner	AEL Limassol
Capacity	2,500
Construction
Built	2005
Opened	October 26, 2005
Tenants
AEL BC

Nicos Solomonides Arena is an indoor arena in Limassol, Cyprus. It is the home venue of AEL Limassol B.C. and has a capacity of 2,500 seats.^[2][3] The arena was named after club co-founder and president Nicos Solomonides.^[4]

The stadium has been renamed on occasion for sponsorship reasons. It was initially named "Melford Arena" and subsequently rebranded as "Limassol Cooperative Bank Arena", until finally the stadium reverted to being called "Nicos Solomonides Arena". Colloquially however, the stadium is referred to by basketball fans and officials alike as "To Klouvi" (Greek: Το κλουβί, lit. 'The cage'"), which refers to the claustrophobic atmosphere produced when the stadium is at maximum attendance.^[5] Various critics have asserted that the atmosphere created in the Arena leaves opponent teams at an unfair disadvantage due to the close proximity between themselves and AEL's supporters.^[6][7][8]

At the moment, the Arena features the club's offices, official club shop, a cafe-restaurant named "Yellow Pride Cafe", a workout area and 12 VIP boxes. The arena also houses official club offices for AEL's other sports departments.

Commencing in 2022, construction has already broken ground to build an AEL Limassol Museum, which will include amongst others, the Club's trophy cabinet with the trophies won by each of AEL's sports departments, as well as framed photographs from historic events/game, a display collection featuring historic basketball jerseys worn by AEL B.C. as well as the jerseys worn by their European opponents during the club's second golden age.^[9] As of 25 September 2023, the museum is under construction.^{[citation needed]}

The stadium is also used by AEL's women's basketball and volleyball clubs.^{[citation needed]}