Construction of the stadium began in 1967. Initially the stadium was going to be based on the famed Estádio do Maracanã in Brazil which had a capacity of 250,000 back then. The idea was to design and construct the Bengaluru Football Stadium like that but with a final capacity of 90,000 instead. After the first stands were completed around 1970 and 1971 then FIFA president João Havelange made the trip to Bengaluru to see the progress and start of the construction of the main stands. He was left happy with what he heard about the stadium and reportedly said he would bring South American teams to India to play in the stadium.