Top facts about Estadio Hernando Siles, one of the highest altitude venues

Hernando Siles Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium situated in La Paz, Bolivia. With a capacity of 41,143 seats, it is considered to be the largest Bolivian

.

In honour of Hernando Siles Reyes, 31st President of Bolivia (1926-1930), the stadium is called with this name.

Its exact location is in the Miraflores borough of La Paz, which has an altitude of 3,637 metres (11,932 feet) above sea level, so as to be widely regarded as one of the highest professional stadiums in the world.

It was inaugurated in 1930 and is the headquarters of three major football clubs in the Bolivian

; Club Bolívar, The Strongest and La Paz FC, along with several smaller elite teams, most notably Universitario de La Paz, Chaco Petrolero and Mariscal Braun.

The stadium is also the venue of lower league clubs such as the likes of Fraternidad Tigres and Academia de Balompié Boliviano.

As part of the

top facts about Estadio Hernando Siles

, it is notable to indicate that there were two stadiums in the same place, first conceived in 1930 by an architect born in La Paz called Emilio Villanueva.

Later it was closed and demolished by the current government of President Hugo Banzer Suárez in 1975 in so far as to build the current Hernando Siles Stadium, which has been opened in 1977 for the Bolivarian Games organized by the country, while SEPRA architects studio and the ICA engineering studio respectively designed and executed it.

Top facts about Estadio Hernando Siles, one of the world's highest altitude stadiums

Come along with us to delve into the top facts about Estadio Hernando Siles, one of the world's highest altitude stadiums.

Estadio Hernando Siles History

The stadium was officially inaugurated on January 16, 1930, with a match between The Strongest and their classic rival, Universitario, which ended up in a 4–1 victory for The Strongest.

The stadium was the host of several matches at the 1963 South American Championships, with the triumph of Bolivia. The Recopa Sudamericana de Clubes was held here in 1970 between Mariscal Santa Cruz and El Nacional.

In 1975 the stadium was reconstructed for the 1977 Bolivia Games and following that, it had been rebuilt, the capacity was doubled with a better lighting system. Moreover, its capacity was reduced so as to make the stadium an all-seater one.

It would be considered as one of the top facts about Estadio Hernando Siles that it was the venue of memorably significant moments in the history of Bolivian football.

Just for instance, consider

's 2-0 loss to Bolivia, which was Brazil's first loss in 40 years of qualifying, and Venezuela's 7-0 loss in 1994 World Cup qualifiers; which ultimately ended up in Bolivian historic qualification for the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

The stadium was also the host of Bolivia's games in the 1997 Copa América, especially in the final, where Bolivian players conceded their match to Brazil.

Likewise, Bolívar grabbed victory in the first leg of the 2004 Copa Sudamericana Finals against Boca Juniors at this venue. Yet, Boca ultimately won the tournament following their 2-0 triumph in

.

It should not be excluded from the

top facts about Estadio Hernando Siles

 that on April 1, 2009, Bolivia beat Argentina 6-1, in what was went down as Argentinan worst defeat in 60 years.

Six months later, on October 11, in the same tournament which was the 2010 World Cup qualifying matches Bolivia could even earn a 2-1 victory over Brazil.

Estadio Hernando Siles FIFA altitude ban

Until May 2007, FIFA, the governing body of international football, had permitted the stadium to be the host of World Cup qualifications, even though there were some protests from visiting teams who believed that because of the stadium altitude, the Bolivian national team had an unfair advantage over their rivals who had only a few days to adapt to the condition before playing.

As a result, on May 27, 2007, FIFA announced that World Cup qualifiers could not be played at stadiums higher than 2,500 meters above sea level.

Bolivian presidents Evo Morales,

, and several others showed negative reactions, arguing that the new measures outstandingly discriminated against Latin American high altitude countries, particularly those in the Andes.

It is interesting to note among our

top facts about Estadio Hernando Siles

, that it has become a symbol of Bolivia's struggle against FIFA's ban on high-altitude games.

Consequently, efforts took no longer than a month, urging FIFA to raise the altitude limit from 2,500 meters to 3,000 meters on June 27, 2007.

It goes without saying that the following day, FIFA also declared a special exemption for the Estadio Hernando Siles, letting them still be the host of World Cup qualifying matches and the ban was lifted in May 2008.

It is interesting to indicate that totally during the 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 World Cup qualifiers, Bolivia had fourteen home victories and ten draws at home, winning not a single away game, grabbing only two away draws.

Even in 2017,

posted images of Brazilian players wearing oxygen masks before the 2018 World Cup qualifier match on the field and indicated that playing in those conditions was "inhuman".

Estadio Hernando Siles accessibility

The Estadio Hernando Siles is situated in the Miraflores district, in central La Paz. The stadium is located about 1.5 kilometres from Plaza Mayor in the historic centre of La Paz and the same distance from the nightlife and dining area of ​​Sopocachi, which is just a little further south.

From the majority of central areas, the walk takes a maximum of 30 minutes. If are coming from a further distance, you can take a taxi or ask for the local appropriate bus routes.

Tickets for the Bolivian

matches can be purchased online through Todotix or at the Estadio Hernando Siles ticket offices the days before the match.

Estadio Hernando Siles construction

The first step towards the construction of the real stadium was taken by the members of the Club Atlantes de La Paz, who asked the government in 1922 to grant them land for the construction of a stadium.

Until the formation of the Bolivian Football Federation in 1925 and the first participation of the Bolivian team in the

Championship in Chile in 1926, not any real impetus was taken to construct a venue for the sole purpose of playing soccer.

In 1926, the Bolivian Football Federation promised to organize one of the editions of the South American Championship, but because they did not have a stadium, the Pro-Stadium Committee was formed, heading by Julio Téllez Reyes, Emilio Villanueva, José Luis Tejada Sorzano and a number of other city authorities.

As the committee discovered a land with a surface of 40,000 m² situated in the current district of Miraflores, they asked the Government of the Republic Dr Hernando Siles to grant them the land.

In 1927, the President issued the order to expropriate the requested land, and on June 17, 1928, the acquisition of the land was consolidated from the bidders, Mr. Carlos Zalles and Rafael Aramayo. On the same day, a ceremony was held to thank President Hernando Siles for his support.

The project was designed by the great architect Emilio Villanueva who had studied and travelled in Europe, planning a raft of famous emblematic stadiums in

and South America.

In 1928, the work of cleaning the site was started, with the participation of several indigenous prisoners as well as the residents of Miraflores.

In 1929 the services of the construction company Ivica Krsul, which was in charge of earthworks, made a deal with the Chamber of Senators of the Republic to start the works of the stadium. Moreover, the Christiani and Nielsen company took responsibility for the final part of the work.

On January 16, 1930, the Hernando Siles Presidential Stadium was officially opened, being called in honour of the president Dr Hernando Siles Reyes. The Stadium was constructed utterly from reinforced concrete with a capacity of 25,000 spectators.

In addition to the stipulated soccer field, the venue had a

court behind one of the goalposts, an athletics track, an Olympic swimming pool in the main building, as well as all the services of a stadium such as locker rooms, shower and toilet.

As part of the top facts about Estadio Hernando Siles, it is notable to point out its most significant characteristics of being the gateway to the Miraflores neighbourhood due to its location in an urban area.

The stadium was consisted of three sections: the main part for the grandstands, the presidential box with the covered seats, as well as the

pool and indoor courts.

The most interesting part was, of course, the middle part of the body and the front part, which had an expressive essence and an intense style, which was the project of French Art Deco, even if its design was similar to that of Neo-Inca State feature imitated from some of the pre-Columbian monuments.

The current Hernando Siles Stadium is also recognized with the name of the La Paz Olympic Stadium because it was built in 1977 under the first government of General Hugo Bánjar Suárez for the Bolívar Games, and hence it was governed by the city of La Paz.

Since 1978, it has been the main venue of the first South American Games arranged by the South American Sports Organization.

The current stadium was designed from the beginning; after that, the previous mythical, historic stadium was utterly smashed.

Then it was rebuilt by a military regime who tried to modernize public infrastructures, without considering that they were actually demolishing the architectural heritage and urban image of the city.

Especially when they destroyed the road with the symbolic buildings in the city of La Paz, leaving currently nothing except to a feeling of the emptiness of their absence.

Estadio Hernando Siles expansion

At the moment, the stadium is in a state of disrepair and its structure and facilities have undergone aging.

One of the biggest mistakes that incurred serious repercussions to the structure was drilling the stands for the wrong seats, resulting in making it prone to the constant presence of bad weather, and reinforced concrete beasts that have ended up in the internal corrosion and as a result, the capacity of spectators per square meter has been reduced.

There was an intention to smash down the stadium a second time, proposed by the government of Evo Morales Ayma, and the Governor's Office and sports management, following that it was announced that the stadium has been obsolete and the demand for such a venue has been increased in recent times.

Yet for the decades, they remained just ideas since currently, no serious measures are taken for any renovation process.

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