Arena da Amazônia

Arena da Amazônia

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Location	Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
Coordinates
Owner	Governo do Estado do Amazonas
Capacity	41,000 40,549 (FIFA World Cup)
Field size	105 x 68 m
Surface	Grass
Construction
Built	2011 - 2014
Opened	9 March 2014
Construction cost	R$605 million US$270 million €200 million
Architect	gmp
Tenants
Nacional FC 2014 FIFA World Cup
Website
arenadaamazonia.com.br

Arena da Amazônia (Amazon Arena) is the name of a football stadium in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, located on the former site of the Vivaldão stadium. The stadium has an all-seater capacity of 41,000 and was constructed from 2011 to 2014 as part of Brazil's hosting of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It will host matches of the football tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Design and construction

File:Construção Arena Amazônia.JPG

The stadium under construction in 2013.

Built on the site of the old Vivaldo Lima stadium, the Arena da Amazônia is located midway between Manaus International Airport and the historic center of the city. It is also near the Manaus Convention Center and the Amadeu Teixeira Arena. The cost of its construction was split with 25% paid by the Amazonas State Government and 75% by the Brazilian Development Bank.

The stadium was designed by German architecture firm Gerkan, Marg and Partners, with inspiration from the Amazon rainforest that surrounds the city of Manaus and its metallic exterior structure is designed to evoke the straw baskets that are made in the region. It was built by the Brazilian engineering firm Andrade Gutierrez and incorporates several sustainability-friendly features.

The stadium can seat around 41,000 spectators and features a restaurant, luxury suites, underground parking spaces and accessibility for people with special needs. It also includes an on-site rain water recycling system and sewage treatment facilities to reduce its water usage and is designed to make use of natural ventilation to reduce its consumption of energy. In addition, more than 95% of the material from the demolition of the old stadium was recycled.

Because the climate of Manaus is extremely warm due to its location near the equator, the stadium was designed to minimize the temperatures inside the structure with features such as a white, reflective exterior, plentiful shade over the seating areas, and a large amount of ventilation openings in the façade of the building.

Despite these efforts, England Manager Roy Hodgson criticized the location of the stadium saying the extreme heat of Manaus would make it difficult for players. England was later coincidentally drawn to play their opening game against Italy in Manaus and lost the game with a score of 2-1.

The Stadium itself has been criticised for being completely unnecessary beyond the World Cup, due to the small crowds that attend local Football Matches in Manaus and the remote nature of Manaus. The Stadium has only seen light use since the World Cup with occasional 4th Division Matches and Christian Evangelical Concerts.

Opening and 2014 FIFA World Cup

The stadium was still under construction by February 2014, and doubts were raised over whether or not it would have been ready to host the FIFA World Cup.

However, the stadium opened on 9 March 2014 and staged its opening match, a cup game in which Northern Brazilian teams Nacional FC and Clube do Remo participated.

The stadium hosted four games during the World Cup.

Date	Time (UTC-04)	Team #1	Res.	Team #2	Round	Attendance
June 14, 2014	18:00	England	1–2	Italy	Group D	39,800
June 18, 2014	18:00	Cameroon	0–4	Croatia	Group A	39,982
June 22, 2014	18:00	United States	2–2	Portugal	Group G	40,123
June 25, 2014	16:00	Honduras	0–3	Switzerland	Group E	40,322

External links

• Stadium Guide Article