Estadio El Campín

Nemesio Camacho
El Campín
Full name	Estadio Nemesio Camacho
Location	Bogotá, Colombia
Coordinates	4°38′46″N 74°4′39″W / 4.64611°N 74.07750°W / 4.64611; -74.07750 (Estadio Nemesio Camacho)Coordinates: 4°38′46″N 74°4′39″W / 4.64611°N 74.07750°W / 4.64611; -74.07750 (Estadio Nemesio Camacho)
Opened	10 August 1938 (1938-08-10)
Renovated	2010–2011
Owner	IDRD
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	$25 million (U.S. dollars)
Architect	Federico Leder Müller
Capacity	36,343[1]
Field dimensions	105 m × 68 m (344 ft × 223 ft)
Tenants
Millonarios (1938–)[2] Santa Fe (1952–)[2]

The Nemesio Camacho Stadium, commonly known as El Campín, is the main stadium of Bogotá, Colombia. It was inaugurated on 10 August 1938 and has a current capacity of 36,343 spectators. It is the home ground of the Categoría Primera A teams Independiente Santa Fe and Millonarios.

The stadium is named after Nemesio Camacho, former manager of the then-existing streetcar system of Bogotá and also the father of Luis Camacho, the person who offered the land where the stadium would be constructed. The name Campín comes from a modification of the word "camping" because the area where the stadium currently stands was formerly a camping zone.^[3] It entered service as a football stadium around 1946, just in time to host the first national club tournament. It was used as the final venue for 2001 Copa América, where the Colombian team were crowned champions of the American continent defeating Mexico 1-0. This stadium was one of the eight stadiums of the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup held by Colombia and hosted its closing ceremony.

History

In 1934, Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, then mayor of Bogotá, had the idea to build a stadium for the entertainment of the people of Bogotá, taking advantage of the occasion provided by Bogotá's 400th anniversary, and also to host the 1938 Bolivarian Games; up to that moment the only major football ground in the city was La Merced ground, a relatively small one. Shortly after, then councilman Luis Camacho offered a land to the city of Bogotá where the new stadium could be constructed.

At the time of the first Colombian Professional Football championship (1948 Campeonato Profesional), the stadium's capacity was of 23,500 seated persons. The stadium has been remodelled many times, and although the stadium's maximum capacity was of 62,500 at 1968, the capacity has been decreased over time through many other remodelations.

The first game hosted in this ground was a soccer match between Ecuador and Colombia, on August 10, 1938, where Colombia was defeated with a score of 2–1. Millonarios has played in "El Campín" as their home ground since 1938, Santa Fe since 1951. El Campín has been used several times to host matches of the Colombian football team, most notably the Copa América 2001 final against Mexico. This stadium is one of the many football grounds that could have been affected by FIFA's decision to forbid playing international football in places located above 2500 meters above sea level, but due to requests to change this decision, FIFA has allowed international FIFA games in this stadium.

Concerts

Until the field was renewed in 2005, many musical concerts were held in the stadium. Concerts and any type of cultural events were then banned to protect the grass on the field. Concerts were then held at the Simón Bolívar Park, Palacio de los Deportes Arena, El Campin Arena, Plaza de Toros de Santamaria, Jaime Duque Park and Corferias.

December 15, 2011 the Congress approved a law that requires mayors to provide the use of stadiums in all Colombian cities at least once a month.^[4] Days later president Juan Manuel Santos approved the law.^[5] In consequence, since 2012 the stadium can be used again as venue for cultural events and it opens the possibility for great international singers to perform in Bogota in 2012.^[6][7][8][9]

The Ministry of Culture, Recreation and Sport and the Institute for Recreation and Sport (IDRD), tested techniques to determine the impact of large events on the grass of the sports arena. The tests look for, for example, reproduce a similar situation of a massive show with assistance. "The first stage of the test consisted of pruning, surveying, geotechnical engineering and agronomy of 100 square meters of turf," said District. It was also installed protective devices that distribute weight and allow photosynthesis without public contact with the grass. Then it was installed a stage and 400 graduates of the police auxiliary entered into the field, which were located on the elements of turf protection, it was obtained a density of four people per square meter, which is the density presented at massive events. The staff entered at 4:00 pm and stayed until 10:00 pm.^[10] y

March 8, 2012 the Ministry of Culture, Recreation and Sport confirmed that the stadium can be again, after 4 years, the venue of concerts and cultural events. On March 15, 2012 concert producer Fernan Martinez and Bogota Mayor (Gustavo Petro) confirmed that Paul McCartney will perform with his On the Run Tour on April 19, 2012 at the stadium.^[11][12][13] On March 27 at 4:00 p.m. tickets for the concert became available in TuBoleta and at 5:30 p.m. 75% of the tickets were already sold. It is expected for the show to sold all the tickets in less than 24 hours.^[14] In March 27 tickets started to be sold at 4:00 p.m. and one hour and a half later 75% of the tickets were already sold. 24 hours after 90% of the tickets were already sold.^[15][16]

Lady Gaga performed with her The Born This Way Ball on November 6, 2012 at the stadium in front of 30,546 people.

Justin Bieber performed for the first time ever in Colombia on October 29, 2013 in the stadium during his Believe Tour ^[17]

British boyband One Direction will perform in the stadium for the very first time in Colombia on April 25, 2014 during their Where We Are Stadium Tour 2014. Tickets for the show sold out in a record breaking time prompting the concert producers to add an extra 6,000 tickets which also sold out the first day they became available for a total of 36,386 tickets sold by December 21, 2013. ^{[18] [19]}

Shakira is the artist who hace performed more times in the stadium, she has performed 5 times since her first tour.

Some of the most important concerts that were held in the stadium are:

• James Brown – 1973
• Concierto de Conciertos – 1988
• Quiet Riot – 1988
• Information Society – 1991
• Guns N' Roses - November 28 & 29, 1992^[20][21]
• Pet Shop Boys - November 26, 1994^[22]
• Bon Jovi - November 3, 1995^[23]
• Luciano Pavarotti - February 2, 1995^[24]
• UB40 - September 3, 1995^[25]
• Elton John - November 18, 1995^[26]
• Plácido Domingo – 1996
• Fito Páez, Charly García & Mercedes Sosa - June 21, 1997^[27]
• Celia Cruz – 1997
• Alejandro Sanz - February 20, 2001
• Alanis Morissette - September 13, 2003^[28]
• Maná - April 5, 2003^[29]
• The Offspring - October 29, 2004^[30]
• Luis Miguel - October 20, 2004^[31][32]
• Chayanne - April 24, 2004^[33]
• Sean Paul & Don Omar - September 18 2004
• The Black Eyed Peas & Smash Mouth - November 18, 2005^[34][35]
• Paul McCartney - April 19, 2012^[36][37]
• Lady Gaga - November 6, 2012
• Justin Bieber - October 29, 2013
• One Direction - April 25 2014

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Estadio Nemesio Camacho El Campín.

• Official page of Nemesio Camacho "El Campín" on Google+
• Estadio Nemesio Camacho "El Campín" at Google Maps