Campo Mário Santiago
| Location | Luanda, Angola |
|---|---|
| Owner | Progresso do Sambizanga |
| Capacity | 18,000 |
| Construction | |
| Renovated | 1996 |
Campo Mário Santiago is a football stadium in Angola owned by football club Progresso Associação do Sambizanga. Located in the club's home neighborhood of Sambizanga, the 8,000-seat stadium whose rehabilitation began in 1996 with private funding and stopped afterwards for lack of funding, resumed in 2016 under a sponsorship deal with the Fundação Eduardo dos Santos (FESA). The stadium's capacity is expected to be increased to 18,000 seats following the 18-month-long rehabilitation.[1]
History
The area were the court is located was the home ground of two football clubs that closed down in the post-independence period: Académica do Ambrizete and Benfica do Quinzau.
During the pro-communist rule that followed the country's independence in 1975, the area where the court is located was called Campo da Revolução (Revolution Camp) and was the venue of several firing-squad executions ordered by the MPLA regime in 1975, the most famous of which was the shooting of MPLA commander Virgílio Sotto Mayor under the charge of treason.[2]
Following that ill-famed period, the field was renamed in honour of Angolan nationalist Mário Afonso Santiago (9 Sep 1942–13 Nov 1971), a local resident, ownership given to Progresso do Sambizanga and the construction work for the football stadium beginning afterwards.
References
- ↑ "Progresso chairperson points out gains of Mário Santiago Stadium". ANGOP.com. 24 Jun 2016. Retrieved 24 Jun 2016.
- ↑ "Biografia oficial do nacionalista Virgílio Sotto Mayor (Official Biography of Virgílio Sotto Mayor)" (in Portuguese). club-k.net. 31 Aug 2009. Retrieved 24 Jun 2016.
Coordinates: 8°48′28.3″S 13°16′6.9″E / 8.807861°S 13.268583°E