After 4 years, South America's largest stadium is almost complete. Following River Plate's announcement that the promised addition to the stands has already been installed, work is now focusing on finishing the last elements of the facility. The redevelopment gives El Monumental a chance to fight for the title of Stadium of the Year.

From Rome's Colosseum to a typical football venue

River Plate took on Instituto at home last Thursday, and the meeting was an occasion for fans to rejoice for two reasons: El Millonario victory by 1:0, and the inauguration of the LED ring on the middle level of the stands at Mâs Monumental. This means that the work is now focused just on finishing parts of the interior and renovating the entrances.

The main part of the work, which has been underway since 2020, already came to an end at the end of last year. This makes El Monumental one of the candidates (and favorites) to compete for the title of Stadium of the Year 2024. Choosing the best five among the 23 new stadiums is up to you.

The most tangible effect of the reconstruction was the replacement of the athletics track with a new level of stands, with standing areas behind the goals and seating along the pitch. This gave El Monumental a typical football layout, while retaining the resemblance to the Roman Coliseum, given to it by the architects during its construction between 1936 and 1938.

The additional level of stands also allowed for an increase in capacity to 84,567 seats. Thus, the home of the River Plate regained the title of South America's largest stadium. Before the reconstruction it had fewer than 70,000 seats, less than Maracanã, Azteca or Peru's Monumental as well as a few more venues.

Dreams of... a roof

As it turns out, the capacity change was really necessary. According to Transfermarkt, attendance at River Plate's home matches in 2024 averaged 84,025 fans - 99.4% of the stadium's capacity - the best data in the world.

El Millonario fans are crowding to take advantage of the expanded capacity, but they still miss one thing: the roofing of the fully exposed stands, for which funds have so far been lacking. However, there is no indication that the situation will change in the near future. In River we are used to being able to dream [...] but I have to be honest, as we always tell the truth to our shareholders; as of today there is no specific project that we are working on to be able to roof the stadium, said to Infobae River Plate president Jorge Brito in October.

© Grzegorz Kaliciak | Mâs Monumental