Argentina is focusing on the Copa America 2021. In this regard, the Monumental Stadium, where River Plate acts as the venue, adds almost five months of adjustments and develops as the “best” sports scene in South America.
Work began in the first days of August, and the total estimated cost of the club is 200 million pesos (about $ 2.2 million). The parties were surprisingly announced on August 4, when the championship was interrupted by a coronavirus pandemic.
The directors assured that the stadium will be ready for use at the beginning of 2021 and that it will be “one of the most technological on the continent”.
The traditional athletics track has been removed and the playing field has been lowered “until the optimal level defined by the geotechnical study is reached,” River Plate said in a statement.
The club said Monumental de Buenos Aires will have “the best playing field in the country and in South America.” The new grass was planted with the “row planting” technique and will be watered by 35 independently controlled sprinklers.
“Clean stolons have been harvested from a mature crop and planted on Monumental land. The main advantage is that the grass grows quickly and can achieve cover quickly,” the club said.
In a second stage, according to the text, they will build new grandstands near the playing field to expand the stadium’s capacity, from 70,000 spectators to 80,000. During the works, three horseshoes were found from the old National Hippodrome, which was located in that area, which would be a little over 100 years old.
A closed section of the referees’ tunnel, which had been abandoned since 1977 and was believed to have been destroyed, was also found. The works are not limited to the playing field, as some grandstands are also being renovated.
Meanwhile, River Plate is playing at home on Independiente, Libertadores de América.
Antonio Vespucio Liberti, known as “el Monumental” usually hosts the matches of the Argentine national team and is one of the most important stadiums in the country. In Albiceleste, she became the world champion there for the first time in the 1978 World Cup, defeating the Netherlands 3-1.
The monument will be one of the stadiums where the Copa America 2021 will be played, organized by Argentina and Colombia.