Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup Venues

Estadio Mineirao

Full name: Estadio Governador Magalhaes Pinto

Location: Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

Opened: September 5, 1965

Capacity: 75,783 (Current) - 69,950 (After renovations)

Mineirao, officially Estadio Governador Magalhaes Pinto (Governor Magalhaes Pinto Stadium) established in 1965 in Belo Horizonte, is the largest football stadium in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and the second largest in the country, after Maracana. It will be a host stadium in the 2014 FIFA World Cup to be held in the country.

It is also a football venue of the 2016 Summer Olympics.

History

Mineirao construction project came before its opening in more than 25 years. In the 1940s, timid movements began, involving managers, entrepreneurs, athletes and journalists. The idea was to build on Belo Horizonte a field that followed the evolution of Minas Gerais' football.

The top three teams in the state capital had their stadiums, but they were cramped, uncomfortable and no longer supported the demand of fans. Stadium Otacilio Negrao de Lima (Alameda Stadium, Francisco Sales Avenue), of America; Antônio Carlos Stadium (located on Olegario Maciel Avenue), of Atletico; and Juscelino Kubitschek Stadium (located on Augusto de Lima Avenue), of Cruzeiro did not support more than 10,000 spectators. Atletico, the team with the wealthiest members in Belo Horizonte, planned to build a stadium for 30,000 people, after the winning the Brazilian "Champion of Champions" title, in 1937. It nearly went out of paper. But then they found a huge debt of the club, forcing the directors to allot and sell the properties that the club had in the neighborhood where the stadium would be built, Antônio Carlos Avenue, near the airport.

At the end of the 1940s, journalist Canor Simões Coelho achieved with CBD the inclusion of Belo Horizonte as one of the venues of 1950 FIFA World Cup. For this, the council would have to build a stadium at the height of the event. Official agreement was signed by Mayor Otacilio Negrao de Lima and the president of the CBD, Rivadavia Correa Meyer. The modest club Sete de Setembro was in charge of commanding the works of the new field.

The construction of Independência Stadium was slow and it seemed that would not be completed in time for the World Cup. But with the intervention of the CBD and FIFA, the city of Belo Horizonte took charge of construction, and the stage was handed over in time for the match between Yugoslavia and Switzerland on June 25 of 1950, even with many improvisations. But soon the initial excitement for the new stadium was falling apart, since the 30,000 seats available did not meet the growing number of fans. Independência was uncomfortable for the audience, and did not offer good conditions for the press.

In the early 1950s drives have begun to build a bigger stadium in Belo Horizonte. The first, initiated by engineering students from UFMG, standing out here Gil Cesar Moreira de Abreu, consisted in the University Stadium, which would be erected in Pampulha, where the university was the owner of large land. The university chancellor would give the ground and then ask for funding. In 1956, The chairman of Minas Gerais' Football Federation, Francisco de Castro Cortes proposed the construction of Municipal Stadium, on the banks of the current BR-040, near where today there is BH Shopping. The funds would be obtained through the sale of season tickets. With the support of the President, former Minas Gerais Governor Juscelino Kubitschek, Cortes came to bring to Belo Horizonte some of the engineers who worked on the construction of Maracana.

With the design out of paper, then-state representative Jorge Carone was in charge of drafting the bill that would create the Mineirao. Part of the funds would be obtained from the Minas Gerais Lottery tickets: 10% of the value of each ticket sold was earmarked for the stadium works. The "Minas Gerais Stadium" was created with the law number 1947 from August 12, 1959, signed by Governor Jose Francisco Bias Fortes. The law also provided for the creation of an administration body that would manage the stadium, AEMG (who would later become the ADEMG). It was left to the architects Eduardo Mendes Guimaraes and Gaspar Garreto, Changing the design of the old University Stadium, which would involve 30,000 people for a new "giant" stadium with a capacity of 100,000 people. The chosen site was located in Pampulha, in a field belonging to UFMG. The then rector Pedro Paulo Penido was favorable to the idea, since it initiated the construction of the new campus, the Mineirao serve as attractive to people then the isolated region. With the approval of the Minister of Education, Government of JK Clovis Salgado, The lending between UFMG and AEMG was signed on February 25 of 1960. So, work began on the stadium.

Renovations

Mineirao was closed in June 2010 for renovations as it will be one of the hosts of the 2014 World Cup. The last game before closure was Atletico 0-1 Ceara, on June 6. 13 days later, the band Skank performed a free concert inside the stadium.

Atletico Mineiro and Cruzeiro will host their matches primarily at the Arena do Jacare in Sete Lagoas between 2010 and 2013, with the Parque do Sabia in Uberlândia and the Ipatingao in Ipatinga also being employed in some games.