Argentina is concentrating its work on the Copa América in 2021. In this sense, the Monumental stadium, where River Plate is the venue, is adding nearly five months of adaptation and emerging as “the best” sports scene in South America.
Work started in the first days of August and the total cost is estimated by the club at 200 million pesos (approximately $ 2.2 million). The parts were surprisingly announced on August 4, when the championship was interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.
The drivers assured that the stadium will be ready for use in early 2021 and that it will be “one of the most technological on the continent”.
The traditional running track was removed and the playing field lowered “until the optimum level as determined by the geotechnical study was reached,” River Plate said in a statement.
The club confirmed that the Monumental de Buenos Aires will have “the best playing field in the country and in South America”. The new grass has been planted with the “row planting” technique and will be watered by 35 independently controlled sprinklers.
“Clean shoots were harvested from a mature crop and implanted on the Monumental field. The main advantage is that the grass grows quickly and can quickly achieve cover,” the club said.
In a second phase, according to the text, they will build new stands 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 is said to be just over 100 years old.
A closed section of the referee tunnel was also found, which had not been in use since 1977 and was believed to have been destroyed. The works are not only limited to the playing field, some stands are also being renovated.
Meanwhile, River Plate plays at home at the court of Independiente, Libertadores de América.
The Antonio Vespucio Liberti, known as ‘el Monumental’, usually hosts the Argentina national team’s matches and is one of the most important stadiums in the country. La Albiceleste became world champion there for the first time at the 1978 World Cup by beating the Netherlands 3-1.
El Monumental will be one of the stadiums in which the Copa América 2021, organized by Argentina and Colombia, will be played.