Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano is a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...

in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. It is currently used mostly for football matches and also has facilities 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), competi ...

. It has a capacity of 37,325.

History

It was built in 1997 for the sixth edition of the

Central American Games The Central American Games ( es, Juegos Deportivos Centroamericanos) are a multi-sport regional championships event, held quadrennial (every 4 years), typically in the first year after Summer Olympics. The Games are open for member federation ...

held there. This stadium was built by Jerónimo Sandoval, mostly known by "Chombo Sandoval", he was the organizer of the 1997 Central American Olympic Games in San Pedro Sula, which caused many controversies. After its completion the stadium became the largest in the country dispatching Estadio Nacional's of that title. It has been the home for

Honduras national football team The Honduras national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Honduras) represents Honduras in men's international football. The team is governed by the Federación Nacional Autónoma de Fútbol de Honduras (FENAFUTH). They are nicknamed ...

since the

1998 FIFA World Cup qualification 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, with Estadio Nacional hosting some games on and off. Upon Sandoval building the stadium, he noticed that the front of the stadium displayed a large "H" by coincidence. When this was discovered, the figure was painted blue to represent the colours of the

. Before leaving office, San Pedro Sula's former mayor, Oscar Kilgore, attempted to change the name of the stadium to José de la Paz Herrera, a prominent Honduran football coach and only coach at the time that had taken Honduras to a

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

. The move was heavily opposed by Club Deportivo Marathón and eventually abandoned.

Matches

*First League game: March 1, 1998. Olimpia 3-2 Marathón with winning goals from

Denilson Costa Denilson Costa (born 10 June 1968) is a Brazilian and naturalized Honduras, Honduran Association football, football coach and former player. He is currently the second all-time top scorer in the Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Honduras, Honduran Lig ...

, Dolmo Flores and Rudy Williams. For Marathón, Juan 'Montuca' Castro and Jaime Rosales.

References

External links

Photos of the construction of the stadium

Amateur capacity Metropolitan Olympic Stadium

References of the Metropolitan Stadium

Statistics of the Metropolitan Stadium

Sanctions for the Metropolitan Olympic Stadium by FIFA

The Honduras Press confirms the capacity of the Olympic Stadium for the qualifiers.
1997 establishments in Honduras Olimpico Metropolitano, Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano, Estadio Multi-purpose stadiums in Honduras Sports venues completed in 1997 {{honduras-sports-venue-stub