<\/p>\n

Key facts<\/h3>\n

Club: Botafogo FR | Opening: 2007 | Capacity: 46,831 seats<\/p>\n

History and description<\/h3>\n

Est\u00e1dio Ol\u00edmpico Nilton Santos, previously called Est\u00e1dio Ol\u00edmpico Jo\u00e3o Havelange and often nicknamed Engenh\u00e3o,\u00a0was built for the 2007 Pan-American Games that were hosted by Rio de Janeiro. The stadium officially opened on the 30 June 2007 with a match between Botafogo and Fluminense.<\/p>\n

At the same time the Rio de Janeiro government, owner of the stadium, put out a tender for the use of the stadium after the games. Botafogo, having struggled to find a permanent home in the previous decades, was the only club to bid and therefore won the right to lease the stadium for a period of 20 years.<\/p>\n

After Maraca\u00f1a<\/a> closed in 2010 for building works for the 2014 World Cup<\/a>, both Flamengo and Fluminense moved most of their home matches to the Engenhao.<\/p>\n

In 2013, the stadium was shut down temporarily when structural construction problems with the roof were discovered.<\/p>\n

Engenhao, owned by the city of Rio de Janeiro, was selected to host the athletics events of the 2016 Olympics, though the opening en closing ceremonies were held at Maracana. For the occasion capacity was expanded to 60,000 seats.<\/p>\n

In 2015, the city of Rio allowed Botafogo to refer to the stadium as Estadio Nilton Santos, honouring their ex-player. In 2017, the stadium got officially renamed Estadio Olimpico Nilton Santos.<\/p>\n

Due to the large distance between the stands and pitch and often low attendances, Engenh\u00e3o has received the reputation of being a somewhat cold and soulless football stadium.<\/p>\n

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