450 seats: U. Católica's offer to Boca sparked Conmebol complaint | OneFootball

The brand-new Claro Arena, home of UC, does not have the space required by Conmebol to host visiting fans. Boca, which will make its Libertadores debut there, has filed a complaint.

After two years away from the top international competition, Boca is returning to the Copa Libertadores in this 2026 edition. Its last match in the tournament was that final against Fluminense at the Maracanã, where it lost 2-1 in extra time. Now, its return will be in Chile, away against Universidad Católica.

The team from the Chilean capital will have a showcase venue for the occasion, as its stadium was reopened in August 2025 with sponsorship from the company Claro. As a result, the former Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo has now been renamed Claro Arena.

With a capacity of just over 20,000 spectators, the brand-new stadium in the capital was built in line with current standards in Chilean football, where away sections in the stands have limited or no capacity. In fact, Claro Arena has a maximum capacity of just 450 visiting fans for a football match.

According to Conmebol regulations, the minimum capacity a host must provide is 2,000 away spectators. At first, Los Cruzados did not want to allow any away fans, but Boca filed a complaint with the South American governing body to enforce what is established in the regulations. The space offered to the club from La Ribera in Chile was the aforementioned one: 450 seats for its visit to Santiago.

The design of Claro Arena prevents a larger away allocation, and that is the section Universidad Católica approved for the Xeneize supporters. For now, Boca has yet to respond on whether it will accept that number of tickets, which is less than a quarter of the minimum established by Conmebol.

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