Club Bolívar new venue plans an uphill task

Article posted by Coliseum, January 21^st, 2021

Image: Club Bolívar

A national law will be required for Primera División football giant Club Bolívar to realize its ambitions for a new venue. This was stated by officials in the Bolivian City of La Paz.

Club Bolívar is a football club from Bolivia. It was founded on April 12^th, 1925 as a tribute to the foundation of the Bolivian Republic. It plays in the Bolivian professional Football league. Currently, this club holds more than 20 titles out of 53 since the league was created.

The Bolivian professional football league is the top-flight league in Bolivia. Since 1950, a total of 16 clubs have been crowned champions of the Bolivian football league system. Club Bolívar is the most winning club with 29 titles to date.

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Club Bolívar, which last week hit the headlines by becoming the latest team to team up with the City Football Group (CFG), the parent entity of English Premier League club Manchester City, has unveiled plans to develop a new arena in the Tembladerani area of La Paz (Bolivia).

Club Bolívar boasts its own facility in Tembladerani, Estadio Libertador Simón Bolívar, but the 5,000-capacity venue is only used for training sessions and friendly matches, with official games held at the 41,000-capacity Estadio Hernando Siles.

The 41,143-capacity Estadio Hernando Siles is a sports stadium in La Paz, Bolivia. It is the country’s largest sports complex with a capacity of 41,143 seats. It is named after Hernando Siles Reyes, the 31^st President of Bolivia.

Estadio Libertador Simón Bolivar is a multiuse stadium in the Tembladerani neighborhood of the City of La Paz, Bolivia. It is most often used for football matches, on club level by Club Bolívar.

Club Bolívar recently revealed a venture designed to mark the team’s centenary in 2025, with the new venue at the heart of it. The Centenario plan outlines two different schemes, resulting in a stadium with a capacity of either 20,000 or 25,000.

It will be lodged where the Estadio Libertador Simón Bolívar presently sits, but to attain the larger capacity additional land will be required where the current South Stand sits.

Architect Álvaro Viaña, Municipal Secretary for Development Planning of the Mayor’s Office of La Paz, told mediapersons that the process to secure the land will take approximately eight months.

Viaña added that while the Mayor’s office is aware of the Centenario plan, it has yet to receive official contact from the club.

He stated, “For the project to build a new stadium in the Tembladerani area, they would not only require the space they have, but also neighboring sectors that are municipally-owned. These spaces could be transferred to Club Bolívar, but like all public property, when acquired it has to be authorized by a national law.”

Writing on his Twitter account earlier this week, Club Bolívar President Marcelo Claure confirmed that work is expected to begin on the site this year.

He added, “The Bolivaristas’ greatest desire was to play in our own home. We will be unbeatable at home and we will suffocate our rivals with the passion of our fans. I am proud to share that this year the construction of our heavenly house begins.”

Club Bolívar last week joined the City Football Group family as its first ‘partner club’. Founded in 1925, Club Bolívar boasts 29 domestic league titles, the most of any Bolivian football club. As a partner club, CFG said Club Bolívar will be able to access a wide breadth of expertise, proprietary technology, best practice, and strategic advice developed by the City Football Group over the past seven years through its multiclub structure.

On the business side, CFG said it would help Club Bolívar grow its partnership revenue, build world-class facilities, promote leaguewide improvements, and support the development of its key executives.

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