October 15 – Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium are favourites to stage the 2020 Copa Libertadores final ahead of Thursday’s decision by Conmebol on host venue.
This season Conmebol’s flagship club competition has changed to a one-off final rather than traditionally being played over the home and away legs. The thinking is to follow the commercial model of other major continental finals, like the Champions League in Europe. However, South America does not have a traveling culture among fans and the geographical and economic reality of the continent means that the new format of the final is a gamble for organisers.
This year the Maracana celebrates its 70th anniversary, The stadium was inaugurated for the 1950 World Cup when Brazil suffered heartbreak against Uruguay, losing 2-1 in the deciding match.
Santiago de Chile will host the Copa Libertadores final. Brazilian giants Flamengo and defending champions River Plate are on course to reach Santiago after gaining the upper hand in their first leg semi-finals against Gremio and Boca Juniors.
This summer Brazil staged the Copa America and with Conmebol imposing high ticket prices with the tournament struggling to catch the public imagination with plenty of empty seats in the stadiums and apathy around Brazil about the tournament.
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1714155488labto1714155488ofdlr1714155488owedi1714155488sni@o1714155488fni1714155488