Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano

Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano

El Olímpico
Panoramic view
Full name	Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano
Location	San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Owner	San Pedro Sula
Capacity	37,325
Field size	105 x 68
Surface	Grass
Construction
Built	1995–1997
Opened	25 September 1997
Tenants
Honduras national football team Marathón Real España

Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano is a multi-purpose stadium in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. It is currently used mostly for football matches and also has facilities for athletics. It has a capacity of 37,325.^[1]

History

It was built in 1997 for the sixth edition of the Central American Games 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 since the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification, 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 Honduras national football team.^[2]

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. The move was heavily opposed by Club Deportivo Marathón and eventually abandoned.^[3]

Matches

• First League game: March 1, 1998. Olimpia 3-2 Marathón with winning goals from Denilson Costa, 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^{[permanent dead link]}
• Statistics of the Metropolitan Stadium 
• International Reference
• Sanctions for the Metropolitan Olympic Stadium by FIFA Archived 2022-01-07 at the Wayback Machine
• The Honduras Press confirms the capacity of the Olympic Stadium for the qualifiers.

15°28′12″N 88°00′25″W / 15.470094°N 88.006931°W / 15.470094; -88.006931

This page was last edited on 16 March 2024, at 08:46