Estadio Mateo Flores
| Coloso de la Zona 5 | |
 |
|
| Full name | Estadio Nacional Mateo Flores |
|---|---|
| Former names |
Estadio Olímpico Estadio de la Revolución Estadio Nacional Mateo Flores |
| Location | Guatemala City, Guatemala |
| Operator | CDAG |
| Capacity | 26,000 |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1948 |
| Opened | August 18, 1950 |
| Architect | Juan de Dios Aguilar |
| Tenants | |
|
Guatemala national football team CSD Municipal (Liga Nacional) |
|
The Estadio Nacional Mateo Flores is a multi-use national stadium in Guatemala City, the largest in Guatemala. It was built in 1948, to host the Central American and Caribbean Games in 1950, and was renamed after long-distance runner Doroteo Guamuch Flores, winner of the 1952 Boston Marathon. It has a capacity of 26,000 seats.
Used mostly for football (soccer) matches, the stadium has hosted the majority of the home matches of the Guatemala national football team throughout its history, and is the home of local football club Municipal (Los Rojos). The venue is operated by the Confederación Deportiva Autónoma de Guatemala (CDAG).
One of the worst disasters ever to occur in a sports venue took place at the stadium in 1996, when 83 people were killed because of a human avalanche on the stands.
The grass field of the Doroteo Guamuch is surrounded by an eight-lane athletic track, which originally was made of sand, and later remodeled to have a synthetic tartan surface. The seating area is divided in five sections: Palco (located on the west, and the only section under roof), Tribuna (west, surrounding the Palco), Preferencia (east), General Norte (north), and General Sur (south, where the main entrance is located).
The stadium was built in 1948, as part of the project to build a group of sports facilities known as Ciudad Olímpica, in the Zone 5 of the Guatemalan Capital. Originally named Estadio Olímpico – erroneously, since it has never hosted an olympic competition –, it is primarily constructed of reinforced concrete, which is why sometimes it is colloquially referred to as Coloso de Concreto. It was inaugurated on February 23, 1950, to host the VI Central American and Caribbean Games, at which local runner Doroteo Guamuch won the half marathon event, and on 26 February, the Guatemala national football team played against Colombia, winning the match 2-1, thus inaugurating the football events at the stadium.
...
Wikipedia