The Estádio Municipal Parque do Sabiá, also known as Parque do Sabiá ("Thrush Park"), is a multi-use

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 completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

Uberlândia Uberlândia () is a city and municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. It is the second largest city in the state of Minas Gerais after the state capital Belo Horizonte. Its population in 2020 was 699,097, making it the si ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. It is currently used mostly for

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 ...

matches. It is the home ground of Uberlândia Esporte Clube and Clube Atlético Portal, and is the biggest stadium in

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

state countryside. The stadium was built in 1982 and was able to hold 53,350 people. It is owned by the Uberlândia City Hall.

History

The stadium was inaugurated on May 27, 1982, as Parque do Sabiá (meaning Thrush's Park). In 1995, the stadium was renamed to Estádio Municipal João Havelange (João Havelange Municipal Stadium), after a suggestion of the city councilor Leonídio Bouças. However, the name change was not very popular among the city's football fans, and the stadium is still commonly called the Parque do Sabiá. The inaugural match was played on May 27, 1982, when the

Brazil national football team The Brazil national football team (), nicknamed ''Seleção Canarinho'' ("Canary Squad", after their bright yellow jersey), represents Brazil in men's international Association football, football and is administered by the Brazilian Football Co ...

beat the

Republic of Ireland national football team The Republic of Ireland Men's national football team () represents the Republic of Ireland in men's international Association football, football. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI). The team made their debut at the Ir ...

7–0. The first goal of the stadium was scored by Brazil's Falcão. The stadium's attendance record currently stands at 80,000, set on the inaugural match. In 2015, the stadium was renamed to Estádio Municipal Parque do Sabiá, due to FIFA scandals. Its current capacity is 39,990.

References

*''Enciclopédia do Futebol Brasileiro'', Volume 2 - Lance, Rio de Janeiro: Aretê Editorial S/A, 2001.

External links

Templos do Futebol
Sports venues in Minas Gerais Football venues in Minas Gerais {{Brazil-sports-venue-stub