Estádio Olímpico Monumental (''Monumental Olympic Stadium'', in English), also known as Estádio Olímpico de Porto Alegre (''Porto Alegre Olympic Stadium'') and Estádio Olímpico (''Olympic Stadium'') until 1980, is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

stadium in the city of

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, ; , ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian Federative units of Brazil, state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of roughly 1.4 million inhabitants (2022) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, 11th-most p ...

, in the

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian state of

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

, with a maximum capacity of 45,000 people. The stadium is owned by Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense. Inaugurated on September 19, 1954, the stadium was the home field of the Grêmio football club before being the team moved to

Arena do Grêmio Arena do Grêmio is a multi-use stadium in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. It was inaugurated on December 8, 2012. It is used mostly for football matches and as the home stadium of Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense, replacing the Estádio Ol� ...

in December 2012. Currently, the venue is not in use by the club and suffers from lack of maintenance.

History

The stadium was inaugurated on September 19, 1954, with a maximum capacity of 38,000 people. In 1980, the stadium was expanded, and its capacity increased to 85,000 people. In 1990, the upper ring bleachers were numbered, and the Olímpico Monumental's capacity decreased to 51,081 people. The inaugural match was played on September 19, 1954, when Grêmio beat

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

of Uruguay 2–0. The first goal of the stadium was scored by Grêmio's player Vitor. The stadium's attendance record currently stands at 85,721, set on April 26, 1981, when Ponte Preta beat Grêmio 1–0. Grêmio won the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

at Estádio Olímpico Monumental on July 29, 1983, after defeating

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (), more commonly referred to as Peñarol, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club currently competes in the Uruguayan Primera División, the highest tier in Uruguayan football. The nam ...

from Uruguay in a difficult match. Futebol passado

Grêmio moved from the Estádio Olimpico Monumental to the new

on December 8, 2012.

Other uses

The stadium is also used for large concerts. The first concert in the history of the stadium was the former member of the band

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...

, the singer-songwriter

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

. For this concert, 60,000 people were at the stadium to cheer him, and it was one of the largest international shows to have passed through the city of Porto Alegre. Two years later, it was time for

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

to perform at the stadium. Around 30,000 people attended the concert, this one with a less impressive number, considering that the singer performed in Florianópolis in the same week, emptying the show in Porto Alegre. In October 2001, the legend

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

performed for a fully packed stadium. In 2002,

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...

and the band Rush performed at sold-out stadium. The stadium has also hosted

Lenny Kravitz Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, and actor. His debut album ''Let Love Rule (Lenny Kravitz album), Let Love Rule'' (1989) was characterized by a blend of Rock music, rock ...

´s concert in 2005, which was also a large audience. The American singer

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

performed a sold-out concert to 43.000 crowd at the stadium on December 9, 2012, as part of ''

MDNA Tour The MDNA Tour was the ninth concert tour by American singer Madonna, launched in-support of her twelfth studio album, ''MDNA (album), MDNA'' (2012). Comprising 88 shows, the tour began on May 31, 2012, at the Ramat Gan Stadium in Tel Aviv Dist ...

'', this one been the last concert on the stadium.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Estadio Olimpico Monumental Olimpico Monumental Grêmio FBPA Olimpico Monumental Sports venues completed in 1954 1954 establishments in Brazil