Mineirão | |
Full name | Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto |
---|---|
Location | Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil |
Coordinates | 19°51′57″S 43°58′15″W / 19.86583°S 43.97083°WCoordinates: 19°51′57″S 43°58′15″W / 19.86583°S 43.97083°W |
Owner | Minas Gerais State Government |
Operator | Minas Arena |
Executive suites | 98 |
Capacity | 61,846 |
Record attendance | 132,834 |
Field size | 105 x 68 m |
Surface | Grass |
Construction | |
Broke ground | 1959 |
Opened | September 5, 1965 |
Renovated | December 21, 2012 |
Tenants | |
Cruzeiro Atlético Mineiro (secondary) |
Mineirão (Portuguese pronunciation: [minejˈɾɐ̃w]), officially Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto (Governor Magalhães Pinto Stadium) is the largest football stadium in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. It was established in 1965, and it is located in Belo Horizonte.
It served as a venue in the many international competitions as 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It also hosted some matches of the football tournament of the 2016 Summer Olympics. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,846 spectators. The property of the state of Minas Gerais, it is used by Cruzeiro as its home, with Atlético Mineiro playing some matches in it as well.
The project to construct the Mineirão predated the stadium's opening by more than 25 years. In the 1940s, a modest movement began, involving managers, entrepreneurs, athletes and journalists. The idea was to build a field in Belo Horizonte to that matched the evolution of Minas Gerais' football up to that point.
The top three teams in the state capital had their stadiums, but they were cramped, uncomfortable and no longer supported the demand of fans. Stadium Otacílio Negrão de Lima (Alameda Stadium, at Francisco Sales Avenue), of América; Antônio Carlos Stadium (located on Olegário Maciel Avenue), of Atlético Mineiro; and Juscelino Kubitschek Stadium (located on Augusto de Lima Avenue), of Cruzeiro did not support more than 10,000 spectators. Atlético, the team with the wealthiest members in Belo Horizonte, planned to build a stadium for 30,000 people, after the winning the 1937 State Champions Cup. It nearly went out of paper, but then they found a huge club debt, forcing the directors to allot and sell the properties that the club had in the neighborhood where the stadium would be built, Antônio Carlos Avenue, near the airport.