in 2003, the town's football club, bnei sakhnin, became one of the first arab teams to play in the israeli premier league, the top tier of israeli football. the following year, the club won the state cup, and was the first arab team to do so; consequently, it participated in the uefa cup the following season, losing out to newcastle united. the team received a new home with the 2005 opening of doha stadium, funded by the israeli government and the qatar national olympic committee, whose capital it is named after. the stadium has a capacity of 5,000.