By Mark Baber
April 9 – Brazil completed its third stadium in readiness for the Confederation Cup later this year. The Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador, Bahia state, held its first match April 7 after four years of planning and construction, with local rivals Vitoria beating Bahia 5-1.
The Arena Fonte is the third stadium to be completed for the 2014 World Cup after the Mineirao in Belo Horizonte and the Castelao in Fortaleza.
The 32 month construction project has turned the old Stadio Fonte into a modern stadium with a capacity of 48,744.
The new stadium will stage three matches of the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 this June, including the group games between Brazil and Italy on June 22 and Nigeria and Uruguay on June 20, and the match for third place on the June 30.
In the 2014 World Cup finals it will stage four matches in the Group Stage. three of which will involve the seeded teams from three different groups as well as a second round match and one of the quarter-finals.. The stadium has also been selected as a venue for the Olympic football tournament in 2016.
An opening ceremony on Friday was attended by the President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff, the Governor of Bahia Jacques Wagner, the Brazilian Minister of Sport Aldo Rebelo and the Mayor of Salvador Antonio Carlos Magalhaes Neto, as well as a large number of the 10,000 workers who built the stadium.
The total cost of the build has been nearly $300m with 92% of the old Estadio Fonte Nova stadium’s rubble being reused in the new venue. The roof uses a translucent membrane, made of fibre glass, to ensure more natural lighting and power savings.
A unique feature of the stadium is the horseshoe shape, with a large opening in the southern part of the stands behind one of the goals which opens out onto the adjacent inner city lake providing optimal airflow in the stadium bowl and allowing the arena to be used to stage concerts and theatre events without conflicting with the pitch and the matches during the football season.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, President Rousseff said “There is one word that sums my feelings about this unique building, one that reveals the spirit and creativity of the people of Bahia and Brazil. That word is ‘pride’.”
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