Campo Argentino de Polo

The Campo Argentino del Polo (Argentine Polo Ground), popularly known as The Cathedral of Polo, is a multi-purpose stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is currently used mostly for polo, pato and field hockey matches.[4]

Campo Argentino de Polo

Argentine Polo Ground
Cathedral of Polo
The Campo Argentino during a polo match in 2014
Address	Avenida del Libertador and Avenida Dorrego
Location	Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Public transit	Mitre Line at 3 de Febrero railway station at Ministro Carranza or Palermo (within walking distance)
Owner	Argentine Army[1]
Operator	Argentine Polo Association [2]
Type	Stadium
Genre(s)	Sport events Music concerts
Capacity	30,000 [3]
Surface	Grass
Opened	October 27, 1928

The stadium, opened in 1928, holds up to 30,000 people and is located in the Palermo neighbourhood, on Del Libertador Avenue, close to Hipódromo Argentino.[5]

This is a unique polo field, situated ten minutes away from downtown Buenos Aires, and is considered the most modern and comfortable for spectators in the sport.[5] The Campo Argentino, is the home to the Campeonato Argentino Abierto de Polo, the most important polo event in the world, held there since 1928. It is organized by the Asociación Argentina de Polo.

History

The Campo Argentino in 1940

The Campo Argentino was erected on the same land where the Sociedad Sportiva Argentina stadium had been located since its establishment in 1899 until its expropriation from the Government of Argentina in 1914, when the National Army took over the stadium after the second period of five years (counting from 1909) came to an end. Ten years later, the Ministry of War led by Agustín P. Justo expropriated the lands and transferred them to the Army, which is its owner since then.[1]

After taking the lands, the Army built two polo fields (known as "canchas 1 y 2"). The Campo Argentino was officially inaugurated on October 27, 1928, with a match between civilian and military teams (named "Civiles" and "Militares" respectively).[6] The Army has rented Campo Argentino to the Argentine Polo Association since then.[2]

In 1978, the Campo Argentino was the venue for all the matches of the World Field Hockey Cup, won by Pakistan.[7] A total of seven hockey fields were specially prepared on the canchas 1 and 2 for the occasion.[8]

Defunct competition America's Polo Cup ("Copa de las Américas") took place in Campo Argentino on numerous occasions. In this classic match, the best team from Argentina played against the best one from the United States.

The stadium has been also used for music concerts. Oasis, Jamiroquai, Santana, Shakira, Neil Young, R.E.M., Beck, Backstreet Boys, Luciano Pavarotti, Luis Miguel, Ed Sheeran, Paul McCartney, The Pretenders and Phil Collins are some of the artists who have performed at Campo Argentino.

See also

• Sociedad Sportiva Argentina

References

1. La Sociedad Sportiva Argentina y su terreno, historia de una disputa by Rodrigo Daskal on Historia Política
2. ¿El Campo Argentino de Polo está en peligro?, ESPN, 22 Sep 2016
3. Campo Argentino de Polo on Argentina.Travel
4. Campo Argentino de Polo on GCBA Turismo
5. Polo in Argentina Archived 2011-07-26 at the Wayback Machine Argentina Travel
6. El Campo Argentino de Polo de Palermo estará abierto para el turismo, Infocampo, 20 Feb 2017
7. Hockey: el “otro” Mundial del 78 on El Mensajero, 8 Jul 2011
8. Argentina 78: los mundiales olvidados

External links

• Argentine Polo Association