The building
On August 16th, 1946, the President of Argentina, Juan Domingo Perón, issued the Executive Order No. 7395, through which Racing was granted a loan of 3 million pesos for the building of a “big stadium within its sporting ground located in the city of Avellaneda, province of Buenos Aires, for the exhibition and practice of physical activities.”
Soon after that, and thanks to Ramón A. Careijo, Ministry of Finances of the national government and a strong Racing Club fan, a new loan of 8 million pesos was granted, payable within a period “not exceeding 65 years.”
In a thankful gesture towards the collaboration of the government, the board of the club decided to appoint Juan Domingo Perón as honorary president and Cereijo, Eva Duarte de Perón and other important government officials as honorary members.
The old stadium’s final game was on December 1st, 1947, between Racing and Rosario Central. The stadium was demolished soon after that, and the building of the “Cilindro” (nickname of the new stadium) commenced. Despite Perón’s suggestion of building the stadium in Retiro, City of Buenos Aires, the new stadium was built on the same ground but with a 90-degree turn.
The “Presidente Perón” Stadium was officially inaugurated on September 3rd, 1950, for a final match between Racing and Vélez Sarsfied, which Racing won 1-0 with a goal scored by Llamil Simes.
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1951
In 1951, the stadium was used for the opening and closing ceremonies of the First Pan American Games, “Buenos Aires 1951”, and for the football matches of such competition. The 21 American delegations marched to the stadium to the sound of military bands.
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1966
New lighting towers were inaugurated in 1966 for an international friendly match between Racing and Franz Beckenbauer’s world famous Bayern Munich, which Racing won 3-2.
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1993
The Cilindro changed its address since Avellaneda’s local government authorised changing the name of Cuyo street for Oreste Osmar Corbatta, a huge Racing idol which died in December of 1991. As from that moment onwards, the intersection where the stadium is located at is Mozart and Corbatta.
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1995-1997
Thanks to the installation of a light and translucent roof painted in light blue and mounted on a metallic structure holding a modern illumination system, the Cilindro was the first stadium in Argentina to have all of its seats covered.
