Estadio Eva Perón is a

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

. It has a capacity of 22,000 spectators since the most recent renovation works. It is the home of

Club Atlético Sarmiento Club Atlético Sarmiento is an Argentine sports club based in Junín, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The club currently competes in Primera División, the top division of the Argentine football league system. Founded in 1911 and affiliated ...

, which currently plays in Primera División, the first division of the

Argentine football league system The Argentine football league system include tournaments organised by the Argentine Football Association. Clubs affiliated to the body compete in the tournaments, which are split into categories or divisions. Rules establish a system of promotion ...

. The stadium, inaugurated in 1951, was named after

Eva Perón María Eva Duarte de Perón (; ; 7 May 1919 – 26 July 1952), better known as just Eva Perón or by the nickname Evita (), was an Argentine politician, activist, actress, and philanthropist who served as First Lady of Argentina from June 19 ...

First Lady of Argentina First Lady or First Gentleman of Argentina ( es, Primera dama o Primer caballero de Argentina), also known as First Lady or First Gentleman of the Argentine Nation ( es, Primera dama o Primer caballero de la Nación Argentina), is the unofficial an ...

between 1946 and her death in 1952.

History

By the 1940s, Sarmiento was the most representative team of Junín and the most winning squad of local league, "Liga Deportiva del Oeste". María Eva Duarte had lived in Junín between 1930 and 1934 before settling in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

. Her older brother,

Juan ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish ...

, had become friend of Héctor Díaz who was close to members of Sarmiento's committee. After Eva Duarte married

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine Army general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President of a military dictatorship, he was electe ...

, Juan Duarte became private secretary of Perón. In those years, the government granted subsidies for clubs to construct or expand their venues. Some members of Sarmiento's executive committee met with the Secretary of the Treasury and Public Credit, Ramón Cereijo, and got the money to build a stadium.La singular historia del Eva Perón, el estadio que River visitó ante Sarmiento
by Andrés Burgo on TyC sports, 31 Aug 2021 Sarmiento was granted m$n250,000.Eva Perón: La historia de su regreso al estadio de Sarmiento
on Xenen, 12 Aug 2018 Cancha de sarmiento

In 1948, Díaz became president of Sarmiento. That same year, building work for the stadium began. Construction took three years until the stadium was inaugurated on 9 July 1951.
at La Verdad online, 2011 with two matches, Sarmiento vs. Vélez Sársfield and River Plate vs.

Racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific go ...

. Days later a bust of Eva Perón was unveiled, followed by several

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

competitions, finising with a banquet at night to honor the several personalities attending the celebrations. Eva Duarte could not attend the event due to her illness (she died one year later). After the

Revolución Libertadora ''Revolución Libertadora'' (; ''Liberating Revolution'') was the coup d'état that ended the second presidential term of Juan Perón in Argentina, on 16 September 1955. Background President Perón was first elected in 1946. In 1949, a c ...

of 1955, the club was forbidden to use the "Eva Perón" (or any name related with politicians) in 1963. The bust was retired from the hall, and the letters with the legend "Eva Perón" (that erected over one of the grandstands) demolished. The bust would put back in 1974, but removed again by the military dictatorship in 1976. The name "Eva Perón" was reestablished as the stadium name in 2009. New letters were also put back on the grandstands, although they were made of plate instead of cement. They were made by a local cooperative. On the other hand, the bust could not be found and is still missing. Sarmiento paid off the loan in 1968. Until 2017, the capacity of the stadium was 17,000. That same year, it was expanded after constructing a new grandstand on Arias street that increased its capacity to 22,000 spectators.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Estadio Eva Peron eva 1951 establishments in Argentina Sports venues completed in 1951 Eva Perón Junín Partido