The Estádio Municipal Parque do Sabiá, also known as Parque do Sabiá ("Thrush Park"), is a multi-use

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

Uberlândia Uberlândia () is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. It is the second largest municipality in the state of Minas Gerais after the state capital Belo Horizonte. Its population in 2020 was 699,097, making it the fou ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. It is currently used mostly for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

matches. It is the home ground of

Uberlândia Esporte Clube Uberlândia Esporte Clube, usually known simply as Uberlândia, is a Brazilian football team, from the city of Uberlândia, in Minas Gerais State. The club plays their home games at Estádio Parque do Sabiá. The club was founded in 1922. Their ...

and

Clube Atlético Portal Clube Atlético Portal, commonly known as CAP Uberlândia, is a Brazilian football club based in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais state. History The club was founded in 2010 by Guillherme Ferriera and the former footballer Gilson Batata, who was also ...

, and is the biggest stadium in

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

state countryside. The stadium was built in 1982 and is able to hold 53,350 people. It is owned by the Uberlândia City Hall.

History

The stadium was inaugurated on May 27, 1982, as Parque do Sabiá (meaning Thrush's Park). In 1995, the stadium was renamed to Estádio Municipal João Havelange (João Havelange Municipal Stadium), after a suggestion of the city councilor Leonídio Bouças. However, the name change was not very popular among the city's football fans, and the stadium is still commonly called the Parque do Sabiá. The inaugural match was played on May 27, 1982, when the

Brazil national football team The Brazil national football team ( pt, Seleção Brasileira de Futebol), nicknamed ''Seleção Canarinho'' (‘Canary Squad’, after their bright yellow jersey), represents Brazil in men's international football and is administered by the B ...

beat the

Republic of Ireland national football team , FIFA Trigramme = IRL , Name = Republic of Ireland , Association = Football Association of Ireland (FAI) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , website fai.ie, Coach = Stephen Kenny (foot ...

7–0. The first goal of the stadium was scored by Brazil's Falcão. The stadium's attendance record currently stands at 80,000, set on the inaugural match. In 2015, the stadium was renamed to Estádio Municipal Parque do Sabiá, due to FIFA scandals.

References

*''Enciclopédia do Futebol Brasileiro'', Volume 2 - Lance, Rio de Janeiro: Aretê Editorial S/A, 2001.

External links

Templos do Futebol
Sports venues in Minas Gerais Football venues in Minas Gerais Copa América stadiums {{Brazil-sports-venue-stub