Argentinian football club Boca Juniors is expanding the capacity of its La Bombonera stadium as part of the venue’s biggest ever makeover.
AP said renovations will cost $50-$60 million and will see an increase in seating capacity from 57,000 to 80,000.
Boca Juniors said the work will begin during the upcoming World Cup and take at least two years to complete.
“La Bombonera is not being moved. A new stadium is not being built. It is being expanded while respecting its identity,” the Argentine club explained.
Club Atlético Boca Juniors is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The club is best known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the Argentine Primera División, the top division of the Argentine football league system.
The 54,000-capacity Alberto José Armando Stadium is a football stadium located in La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The stadium is popularly known as La Bombonera because of its resemblance to a box of marshmallows. It opened in 1940 in the La Boca neighborhood and its expansion is a long-standing demand of the club’s fans.
Less than half of the 126,000 active members of the club can attend league and international tournament matches. For the fans who are not members, access is prohibited.
The project includes adding a new fourth tier and rebuilding the existing boxes into new, larger seating sections.
The project, referred to in some reports as part of a broader $102 million upgrade, includes a full roof, a 360-degree LED screen, and improved amenities.
The project involves closing the “missing” side of the stadium and constructing new supports near the train tracks.
The club emphasized that the stadium will not be moved, but rather expanded in its current location.
The project aims to modernize the stadium to meet international hosting requirements and enhance the fan experience, with potential temporary closures requiring the team to play elsewhere during some stages of the build project.
Two months ago, River Plate announced plans to build a roof on its stadium and expand capacity to more than 100,000 in preparation for the 2030 World Cup.
Argentina is co-hosting with Paraguay, Uruguay, Spain, Portugal and Morocco for the tournament’s 100th anniversary.
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