Featured image credit: Jorge Reale
Jorge Reale, a candidate to become the next president of Boca Juniors, has unveiled a plan for a new 106,000-capacity stadium for the Argentine Primera División football club.
The stadium would be almost twice the capacity of Boca’s current home, La Bombonera, which holds 54,000 fans. It would be built in the Isla Demarchi area of Buenos Aires, just 1,300 metres from La Bombonera.
Reale has posted renderings of the stadium on his Twitter account. The renderings have been designed by Enrique Lombardi, the architect behind the home stadiums of fellow Primera División clubs Independiente and Estudiantes.
Argentine newspaper Olé reports that the stadium would have 444 VIP boxes, 192 ‘tourist’ boxes, 78 broadcast booths and parking spaces for 4,000 cars. The venue would feature three pedestrian bridges across the Matanza River, linking it to La Bombonera.
Reale said the new stadium could be built without having to “throw away” La Bombonera, which he proposes could be used to host women’s and youth team matches, as well as other events. Reale is running to be president alongside former Boca player Juan Román Riquelme, who would serve as his deputy.
In an interview with 221 Radio, Lombardi said the $300m (£241m/€275m) stadium would take “three to four years” to build and could be used during the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which Argentina is bidding to co-host alongside Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Earlier this week, the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) proposed 18 stadia for the bid, including an ‘Estadio CONMEBOL’ in Asunción, the capital of Paraguay.
Argentina will play the dominant part in the bid with seven venues. These are: El Monumental (Buenos Aires, 83,000); Mario Alberto Kempes (Córdoba, 57,000); and three more venues in Buenos Aires – Único de La Plata (53,000); Libertadores de América (48,000) and Presidente Perón (42,000).
Argentina’s list is completed by Malvinas Argentinas (Mendoza, 42,000); and Único Madre de Ciudades (Santiago del Estero, 30,000).
La Bombonera has been Boca’s home since 1940.
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