The Estadio Olímpico Rommel Fernández Gutiérrez, named after the Panamanian football star
Rommel Fernández (1966–1993), is a multi-purpose stadium in
Panama City
Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is loca ...
. It is used for different sports, but mainly
football (soccer) games. It was inaugurated February 6, 1970, and was designed to accommodate the
XI Central American and Caribbean Games in 1970. Through further reforms, the stadium reached its current capacity of 32,000 spectators all seated, the largest stadium in Panama. It is part of Sports City
Irving Saladino.
History
Early history
On April 4, 1976, it marked the debut of the
Panamanian national team to make the run to the
1978 FIFA World Cup
The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June.
The Cup was won by ...
in Argentina. In Estadio Revolución, they took on Costa Rica and won surprisingly 3–2, with two goals from Agustin Sanchez and one from Luis Tapia. The most memorable
ANAPROF match was the final match played in the stadium in 1996, when more than 25,000 fans watched
San Francisco F.C. take on
Plaza Amador
Plaza Amador is a Panamanian football club based in Panama City, that currently plays in Liga Panameña de Fútbol. It is the oldest team in Panama.
History
C.D Plaza Amador was founded in 1955 by Panamanian sports legend León Cocoliso Tejada ...
.
The original name of the stadium was Estadio Revolución (meaning "Revolution Stadium"), but in 1993, it changed its name to Estadio Rommel Fernández in honour of
Rommel Fernández Gutiérrez, a Panamanian soccer player who died in a car accident in
Albacete
Albacete (, also , ; ar, ﭐَلبَسِيط, Al-Basīṭ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete.
Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, t ...
, Spain, on May 6 of that year. At that time, the stadium had a capacity of 22,000. The stadium is often used by LPF, Liga Panameña de Futbol.
Recent history
In 2009, the stadium was totally renovated; its shape and facade were changed completely, more seats were installed as well as a new giant screen and a new athletics track, and it is fully air conditioned with modern equipment. It was the spearhead for IX Central American Sports Games 2010, in which the stadium was reopened in the opening ceremony of these games.
International Soccer Matches
References
External links
Football venues in Panama City
Athletics (track and field) venues in Panama
Multi-purpose stadiums in Panama
American football venues in North America
1970 establishments in Panama
Sports venues completed in 1970
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