Invincible Santa Fe: new stadium for the 2026 South American Games opens | OneFootball

The CARD multipurpose stadium will open its doors this Saturday, August 29, and will host the handball competitions of Santa Fe 2026. The venue will have capacity for more than 3,400 people and was designed to remain in operation after the Games.

The countdown to the 13th South American Games adds a new chapter in the provincial capital. This Saturday, August 29, “Invencible Santa Fe,” the multipurpose stadium built at the High Performance Sports Center (CARD), in the southern part of the city, will be officially inaugurated.

The ceremony will be attended by Governor Maximiliano Pullaro, officials, and athletes. As part of the day, a handball test event with teams will also be held, an instance that will allow the facilities to be tested before the international competition. Afterwards, the date for the Santa Fe Handball Cup will be officially announced.

From September 12 to 26, 2026, the cities of Santa Fe, Rosario, and Rafaela will host the South American Games, which will welcome more than 4,000 athletes from 15 countries. The athletes will compete in 43 sports and 60 disciplines.

A new home for handball

During the Games, “Invencible Santa Fe” will host all handball matches, in both the women’s and men’s divisions. However, its outlook goes far beyond September: the building was conceived as a multipurpose venue prepared to host different indoor sports.

The stadium will have a total capacity of 3,472 people: 3,332 seats in the stands and another 140 in boxes. Added to that are 74 positions reserved for the press, distributed between 40 desks in the lower section and 17 broadcast booths with capacity for two people each.

Accessibility was also considered as part of the project. In addition to taking into account court level, accessible entry, and adapted restrooms, two specific areas were set aside for spectators with reduced mobility.

A project designed for after the Games

The construction of the venues is part of a larger-scale sports infrastructure program. The Province reported a total investment of 90 million dollars for works related to the Games in the different host cities, financed by CAF — Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean — and contributions from the provincial treasury.

In that context, “Invencible Santa Fe” will have a dual mission: to become one of the main indoor competition venues during Santa Fe 2026 and to leave behind infrastructure that can continue to be used by the community once the sporting event has ended.

Its design, capacity, and location within CARD are aimed at ensuring that the legacy of Santa Fe 2026 continues long after the competition.

Governor Maximiliano Pullaro highlighted the significance of the infrastructure that will remain in the province: “The biggest sporting event in Latin America is coming, something we had been dreaming about. Hopefully we can all enjoy it, feel it, and experience it. We are the Invincible Province of Santa Fe, but we are becoming the unstoppable province.”

A stadium integrated into the sports hub

The architectural proposal seeks to give the building its own identity through simple, regular lines. The stadium is organized into two large volumes and features a facade unified by a perforated galvanized sheet-metal skin.

Beyond the South American Games, it was conceived as a space for permanent use for sports, recreational, cultural, and educational activities.

The project is integrated into the sports hub made up of CARD, Higher Institute of Physical Education No. 27, and the Santa Fe Hockey Association, reinforcing that part of the city as a benchmark for high-performance sport.

With its inauguration and the first handball test event, “Invencible Santa Fe” will begin to show its potential as one of the venues that will play a central role in the major sporting event that will bring together the best athletes in South America.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.