The Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, formerly known as Estadio Córdoba, is a

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 ...

in the Chateau Carreras neighborhood of Córdoba,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Owned by the Córdoba Province, the venue is used mostly for

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

matches and also sometimes for

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

. The stadium was built in 1976 in preparation for 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 t ...

, with a capacity for 37,851 spectators although it doesn't provide seating for all of them, like many Argentine stadiums. Most football teams in Córdoba have their own stadiums but they usually prefer playing in this stadium for its size and comfort, especially when playing important games that attract big crowds. Generally, this stadium is used for Talleres' matches, and is used for Belgrano's, Instituto's and

Racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...

's matches. The

Argentina national football team The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in men's international football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, the governing body for football in Argentina. Nicknamed ''La Albiceleste'' ('The White and S ...

home matches have also been played here. The stadium, in

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and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, hosted some Special Stages of motorsport event named

Rally Argentina The Rally Argentina ( es, Rally de Argentina) is an Argentine rally competition that has been a round of the World Rally Championship, the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, the South American Rally Championship and the Argentine Rally Championsh ...

, a round of the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...

. During 2010 and 2011 the stadium went through a remodelling process. The field was sunken 4 metres, the iconic Autotrol scoreboards installed for the 1978 World Cup were replaced with modern video screens, new stands were built in order to improve the poor view caused by the shallow shape of the stadium and the capacity was increased to 57,000, becoming the third largest stadium in Argentina by seating capacity. It was re-opened on June 26, 2011, just 5 days before the start of the

2011 Copa América The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South Americ ...

. The stands were fully covered after the cup. In October, 2010 the name was changed to honour

Mario Kempes Mario Alberto Kempes Chiodi (; born 15 July 1954) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker or attacking midfielder. A prolific goalscorer, he finished as La Liga's top goalscorer twice with Valencia and amassed 11 ...

, former Argentina national team player and top goal scorer of the

, who was also a native of Córdoba.

History

The construction of the stadium was commissioned to "Sánchez Elía-Peralta Ramos" Architects studio of Buenos Aires, which then associated with architects of Córdoba to carry out the project. In 1976, the military government of Argentina led by

Jorge Rafael Videla Jorge Rafael Videla (; ; 2 August 1925 – 17 May 2013) was an Argentine military officer and dictator, Commander in Chief of the Army, member of the Military Junta, and ''de facto'' President of Argentina from 29 March 1976 to 29 March 1981. H ...

, created a self-governing entity ("EAM 78") that took over remodelation and construction of stadium and buildings for the

that would be held in Argentina.LOS 12 ESCANDALOS MAS FAMOSOS DE LAS COPAS DEL MUNDO
by Alejandro Mayorga on Mundo Soccer Aport from Estadio Olímpico, other stadiums to be refurbished for the World Cup were River Plate, Vélez Sarsfield, Ciudad de Mendoza, Mar del Plata Stadium. Since the projects were launched, costs of constructions raised to

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

520 million, five times higher than

1982 World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 i ...

. The stadium was finally inaugurated on May 16, 1978, in a match where

played a local combined. The first World Cup held in the ''Chateau Carreras'' stadium was the

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

3 v

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

1, on June 3. In October 2010, the Legislature of Córdoba Province approved the change of name of the stadium to "

Mario Alberto Kempes Mario Alberto Kempes Chiodi (; born 15 July 1954) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker or attacking midfielder. A prolific goalscorer, he finished as La Liga's top goalscorer twice with Valencia and amassed ...

" to honor the former footballer born in the province. That changed had been driven by local journalist Claudio Menditto on his article "A tribute for ''Matador''", published in 2008. The Mario Kempes stadium was later refurbished in preparation for the

, and inaugurated on July 26, 2011. Works included positioning of roof on grandstands, and an expansion to 57,000 spectators. Besides, all the lightning was renovated.

Sporting events

1978 FIFA World Cup

During the

, the stadium hosted two

Group 2 The term Group 2 may refer to: * Alkaline earth metal, a chemical element classification * Astronaut Group 2, also known as The New Nine, the second group of astronauts selected by NASA in 1962 * Group 2 (racing), an FIA classification for cars in ...

matches, three

Group 4 Group 4 may refer to: *Group 4 element, chemical element classification *Group 4 (racing), classification for cars in auto racing and rallying * G4S, formerly Group 4 Securicor, a prominent British security company *IB Group 4 subjects The Group 4 ...

matches and three more during

second round The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...

Other football events

The Mario Kempes Stadium hosted three Group B matches and a semi-final match during the

1987 Copa América The 1987 Copa América was the 33rd edition of the Copa América, CONMEBOL's national team competition. It was the first Copa América under the new rotational hosting system. Argentina, as the first country alphabetically, hosted the tournament ...

; five group stage matches, two round of 16 matches, a quarter-final match and a semi-final match at the

2001 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Argentina between 17 June and 8 July 2001. The 2001 championship was the 13th contested. The tournament took part in six cities, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza, Rosario, Salta, and Mar de ...

and at the 2011 Copa America, the stadium hosted two

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...

matches, one

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived vehicles intended for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles w ...

match and a quarter-final match. The stadium also held the

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

finals of the

Copa Argentina The Copa Argentina (English: ''Argentine Cup''), officially known as the "Copa Argentina AXION energy" due to sponsorship reasons, is an official football cup competition organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA), with the aim of qual ...

, and the 2015 Supercopa Argentina. Besides, the stadium hosted the

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, where

Defensa y Justicia Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia, commonly known as Defensa y Justicia, is an Argentine football club from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires, established in 1935.

were crowned champions after beating

Lanús Lanús () is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. The city has a population of 212,152 (), and the Partido de Lan� ...

3–0, and

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

finals of

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

. In

the Stadium Mario Kempes hosted the

Copa de la Liga Profesional The Copa de la Liga Profesional (English: ''Professional League Cup''; officially named "Copa Diego Armando Maradona" in its first edition) is an official Argentine football cup competition. The cup was planned and organised by the "Liga Profesi ...

final between

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

and Tigre.Final de la Copa LPF con Boca-Tigre: cuándo se juega, sede y todo lo que hay que saber
TyC Sports, 15 May 2022

Rugby union

Mario Kempes Stadium has hosted several rugby union games of the Argentina national team. Likewise,

Unión Cordobesa de Rugby The Córdoba Rugby Union ( es, Unión Cordobesa de Rugby) (also known for its initials UCR) is the organisational body that rules the game of rugby union in Córdoba province of Argentina. Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, with a capacity of 57,000, i ...

used the stadium for defining instances of its annual championship, as well as its representative team played several matches against touring national sides.

Other sporting events

The 1982

World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

world Super-Bantamweight title fight between champion Sergio Palma and former WBA world Bantamweight champion

Jorge Luján Jorge Luján (born March 18, 1955) is a Panamanian who was a professional boxer and fought many top-flight boxers and several champions during the 1970s and 1980s. Luján is the former Lineal and WBA Bantamweight world champion. He was managed b ...

was held there. The fight was won by Palma on a unanimous decision after 15 rounds.

Facilities

The Mario Alberto Kempes Stadium is the center of a 40 hectares park and

sports complex A sports complex is a group of sports facilities. For example, there are track and field stadiums, football stadiums, baseball stadiums, swimming pools, and Indoor arenas. This area is a sports complex, for fitness. Olympic Park is also a kind ...

(named "Polo Deportivo Kempes") that includes the "Soledad García" provincial

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

stadium, opened in 2012, that honors the two times world champion

Soledad García Agustina Soledad "Sole" García (born June 12, 1981) is a retired Argentine field hockey player. She won the silver medal with the national field hockey team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympi ...

; an

Olympic-size swimming pool An Olympic-size swimming pool conforms to regulated dimensions that are large enough for international competition. This type of swimming pool is used in the Olympic Games, where the race course is in length, typically referred to as "long cour ...

, opened in 2014 and named after the olympic medallist Georgina Bardach; an auxiliar field, located north of the main stadium, that hosts training and smaller football and rugby events; a BMX circuit, a running track, and basketball, volleyball and tennis facilities. Since 2019, Polo Deportivo Kempes has hosted the

Córdoba Open The Córdoba Open is a men's ATP World Tour 250 series tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held for the first time as part of the 2019 ATP Tour, replacing the Ecuador Open Quito. The tournament takes place at the "Polo Deportivo Kem ...

, a men's

ATP World Tour 250 series The ATP 250 tournaments (previously known as the ''ATP World Tour 250'' tournaments, ''ATP International Series'', and ''ATP World Series'') are the lowest tier of annual men's tennis tournaments on the main ATP Tour, after the four Grand Slam (te ...

tournament played on outdoor

clay court A clay court is one of the types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis, originally known as "lawn tennis", is played. Clay courts are made of crushed stone, brick, shale, or other unbound mineral aggregate depending on the tournament. ...

Concerts

Music concerts hosted at the Mario Kempes stadium include:

Notes

References

External links

Estadio Mario Kempes
on Municipality of Córdoba (archived)
Estadio Mario Kempes
on Córdoba Turismo {{Authority control 1978 FIFA World Cup stadiums Football venues in Argentina

Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes The Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, formerly known as Estadio Córdoba, is a stadium in the Chateau Carreras neighborhood of Córdoba, Argentina. Owned by the Córdoba Province, the venue is used mostly for association football and rugby union mat ...

Copa América stadiums

Sports venues completed in 1976 Event venues established in 1976 Sports venues in Córdoba Province, Argentina Rally Argentina 1976 establishments in Argentina