Cheers, board! São Paulo v Bahia set for Bragança, Tricolor's 4th home | OneFootball

At São Paulo’s request, the CBF confirmed the match against Bahia on May 3 (Sunday), at 4 p.m. (Brasília time), for the Brazilian Championship, at Estádio Cícero de Souza Marques, in Bragança Paulista (SP).

The change was made because Morumbi will not be available on the date of the match due to concerts by Canadian singer The Weeknd on April 30 and May 1. On the day of the game, the dismantling of the stage and cleaning of the stadium’s pitch will still be underway.

Cícero de Souza Marques is something of a temporary home for Bragantino, while the club renovates the traditional Nabi Abi Chedid. Small and cramped, the venue holds just over 11,000 people. But it has its historical importance, because it was there that Tricolor managed to end its winless run away against the hosts since they were bought by an Austrian beverage company.

It is the second home-venue change for Tricolor caused by The Weeknd. The match against Mirassol, this Saturday (25) in the Brasileirão, was rescheduled for Brinco de Ouro, in Campinas (SP).

Earlier, in March, São Paulo had already been left without a home due to AC/DC’s three performances at its stadium, and used Canindé as the venue for the match against Chapecoense in the Brasileirão.

Portuguesa’s stadium, in fact, had been considered São Paulo’s home for these situations, as stated by director Rui Costa himself, but the conditions did not please the Morumbi club.

And Tricolor will be without Morumbi on several other occasions this season. Right after the World Cup break, it will be occupied by British singer Harry Styles, who will perform on July 17, 18, 21, and 24. Then in October, South Korean group BTS will hold shows on the 28th, 30th, and 31st at the stadium.

For the second half of the year, there may be an unusual alternative: the meeting between São Paulo president Harry Massis and the state governor, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicanos), at the end of March, served for more than just a simple inspection of the progress of the flood-control reservoir construction around Morumbi. Tarcísio also took the opportunity to move forward with an agreement with the club so it could use Ibirapuera Stadium as an alternative for its matches when Morumbi is being used for concerts.

A traditional venue for Brazilian athletics, Ícaro de Castro Mello Stadium, which is part of the sports complex that includes Ginásio do Ibirapuera in southern São Paulo, is in the final stages of renovation. The project is being carried out through a partnership between the São Paulo State Housing and Urban Development Company and the Sports Department, with estimated investment of around R$70 million. The initiative aims to restore the stadium’s architectural complex based on three guidelines: preserving its original characteristics, adapting it to contemporary athletics rules in accordance with World Athletics, and complying with accessibility and safety standards.

The plan of Governor Tarcísio’s state administration is to hold matches involving major São Paulo clubs at Ibirapuera in order to show how productive the renovation has been and thus attract interested parties to the complex’s privatization project.

The club maintains that the concerts are extremely profitable. According to marketing director Eduardo Toni, São Paulo netted nearly R$15 million from AC/DC’s three performances at Morumbi, which drew a total crowd of more than 210,000 people.

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