UNSA Stadium (Arequipa)

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The UNSA Stadium (Estadio Monumental de la UNSA, i.e. Monumental Stadium of the UNSA) is a stadium located in the Peruvian city of Arequipa. Founded in 1990 with a capacity of 60.000 spectators, the stadium belongs to the local state University of San Agustín. Its official name is "Estadio Arequipa", but due to its size and comparison to the "Estadio Monumental U" in Lima, it has become known as the "Estadio Monumental UNSA". It is currently the home venue of local football team Melgar, which had its previous home in the Estadio Melgar (20.000). The first match played in this stadium was on July 1995 between Melgar and Alianza Lima.

Early efforts to gather funds were largely organized by the University, which organized a fund raiser by giving volunteering students lottery tickets to sell throughout the city. The prices consisted of apartments near the new stadium. The construction of the new stadium was taken as a pride issue by Arequipa's inhabitants since it was the biggest Peruvian stadium at the time.

In 2004, thanks to a 5-million dollar government investment program to remodel older Peruvian stadiums, including last-minute modifications to the UNSA stadium, spectators were able to enjoy the games with the highest standards as imposed by CONMEBOL for the Copa América 2004 soccer tournaments. In return, the country received throngs of tourists, international media coverage, and more locals buying tickets to attend the games. The Copa América 2004 Group C games were hosted in this stadium. The Copa America has been held in Peru on five different occasions - in 1927, 1935, 1939, 1953 and 1957. On each occasion, however, all the games were mainly played in Lima's Estadio Nacional. Unlike previous occasions, Copa América 2004 games were decentralized and played in key Peruvian cities whose stadiums qualified for the event.

Peru's biggest stadium, Estadio Monumental "U", is located in Lima with a capacity of 80.093 and it is home to the Universitario de Deportes team, though it was not used for the Copa América 2004.