The Estadio Olímpico Rommel Fernández Gutiérrez, named after the Panamanian football star
Rommel Fernández (1966–1993), is a multi-purpose stadium in
Panama City
Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...
. It is used for different sports, but mainly
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
(soccer) games. It was inaugurated February 6, 1970, and was designed to accommodate the
XI Central American and Caribbean Games in 1970. Through further reforms, the stadium reached its current capacity of 32,000 spectators all seated, the largest stadium in Panama. It is part of Sports City
Irving Saladino.
History
Early history
On April 4, 1976, it marked the debut of the
Panama national team to make the run to the
1978 FIFA World Cup
The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...
in Argentina. In Estadio Revolución, they took on Costa Rica and won surprisingly 3–2, with two goals from Agustin Sanchez and one from Luis Tapia. The most memorable
ANAPROF match was the final match played in the stadium in 1996, when more than 25,000 fans watched
San Francisco F.C. take on
Plaza Amador.
The original name of the stadium was Estadio Revolución (meaning "Revolution Stadium"), but in 1993, it changed its name to Estadio Rommel Fernández in honour of
Rommel Fernández Gutiérrez, a Panamanian soccer player who died in a car accident in
Albacete, Spain, on May 6 of that year. At that time, the stadium had a capacity of 22,000. The stadium is often used by LPF, Liga Panameña de Futbol.
Recent history
In 2009, the stadium was totally renovated; its shape and facade were changed completely, more seats were installed as well as a new giant screen and a new athletics track, and it is fully air conditioned with modern equipment. It was the spearhead for IX Central American Sports Games 2010, in which the stadium was reopened in the opening ceremony of these games.
References
External links
Football venues in Panama City
Athletics (track and field) venues in Panama
Multi-purpose stadiums in Panama
American football venues in North America
1970 establishments in Panama
Sports venues completed in 1970
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