FIFA’s confirmation that Rancagua will be one of the sub-venues for next year’s U20 Men’s World Cup has led the regional and municipal authorities to coordinate in order to ensure a good organization at the local level.
In this regard, this Tuesday, on the side of the El Teniente stadium, government officials announced that approximately one billion pesos will be invested for this sporting event, since works must be carried out in the main stadium of the region and also in the municipal sports facilities that will host the practices of the teams that will be staying in the city. In addition, the practices that will also be held at the Monasterio Celeste, in the commune of Requínoa.
“Now the real work begins, we have to comply with the list of charges,” stressed the presidential delegate, Fabio López.
Furthermore, the authority pointed out that the work to be carried out includes “the grass, the scoreboard, the lighting and work in the locker rooms, as well as the municipal training fields. It is an investment of close to one billion pesos.”
Specifically, the lighting will need to be improved – state-of-the-art LED lights are required -, the scoreboard will need to be changed, internet connectivity in the coliseum will need to be improved, and two new locker rooms will be built in the north sector, under Gallery 16. Likewise, in the municipal facilities, the grass on fields 1 and 4 of the Patricio Mekis Complex will be improved, as well as the ANFA Stadium located on Avenida República at the corner of La Compañía.
Now, those billions must be financed through projects, several of which could be managed by the GORE. In this regard, Governor Pablo Silva stated that “there will surely be investment from the Regional Government, but it will depend on the timely presentation of the projects. We finance projects. Here we need to improve the lighting, the grass, the training fields and we will work with the mayor for this.”
Meanwhile, from the municipality, the official mayor, Valentina Cáceres, highlighted that this tournament “represents a million-dollar investment, but it has a social meaning. We are showing it here with our football schools, and that is what will remain in our commune.”
THE BOSS DID HIS THING
The blue institution also contributed to the efforts to secure the World Cup venue. In this regard, the club president, Pablo Hoffmann, commented on the occasion that “this reminds me of my childhood, when in this same stadium, in 1962, we were one of the four sub-venues. This generation will have the opportunity to see important athletes and we hope that there will be as many matches as possible.” In this regard, he added that “there may be single meetings, double meetings. We don’t know that, but the important thing is what remains, infrastructure that will be used by the community.”
Let us remember that O’Higgins FC made its training fields available in the Monastery, therefore, in Requínoa there will also be times when the national teams will attend the Santa Lucila sector.
CLOSED FOR CONSTRUCTION WORKS
According to the FIFA schedule, El Teniente Stadium must be delivered for the tournament 40 days before the start of the competition, which will allow for adjustments to aspects related to improvements and maintenance of the playing field.
This means that, for example, O’Higgins will have to look for another venue to host part of the 2025 season. “We all have to make a sacrifice,” Hoffmann said when asked about this.
According to Raúl Madrid, a representative of Codelco El Teniente, “the stadium will indeed have to be closed for 40 days. We have had previous technical meetings and we will count on the collaboration of O’Higgins.”
However, the program called Stadium Experience, where boys and girls from the region go to the venue to get to know it, hopes -he said- not to stop in those days when the venue is handed over to FIFA.
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