Estádio Olímpico João Havelange (Olympic Stadium Joao
Havelange), also known as Engenhão, is a multi-use stadium
located in the Engenho de Dentro neighborhood of Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil. It is used mostly for football matches and
athletics. The stadium hosted twelve matches of the first stage
of the men's and women's football tournaments of the 2007 Pan
American Games. The stadium has a maximum capacity of
45,000 people, but it can be amplied to 60,000.
The stadium is owned by the City of Rio de Janeiro, but it is
rented to Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas for 20 years. It is
named after João Havelange, who was president of FIFA from
1974 to 1998.
History
On June 30, 2007, the stadium was inaugurated. The first
match was the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A game between
Botafogo and Fluminense. 40,000 tickets were available for the
match and they were exchanged for powdered milk. However,
43,810 people were at the stadium to watch the inauguration
match, when Botafogo beat Fluminense 2-1. The first goal of
the match was scored by Fluminense's Alex Dias. As Alex Dias
scored the first goal of the stadium, he was awarded the Valdir
Pereira Trophy (Taça Valdir Pereira), which was named after
retired footballer Didi. As Botafogo won the stadium's inaugural
match, the João Havelange Trophy (Taça João Havelange) was
awarded to the club.
On August 3, 2007, Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas signed a
deal with the City of Rio de Janeiro to rent the stadium for 20
years.
On August 11, 2007, a 15-meter long and 6-meter high
stadium wall collapsed, but nobody was hurt.
