Estadio Monumental "U"

Located on Avenida Prolongación Javier Prado Este, the 85.000-spectator stadium and the surrounding sport complex cover an area of 186,542 m² (2,007,920 sq ft). There are 3 fields; the stadium field and two training grounds. The stadium is divided into two main sections; the lower section of stands for the general public and the upper section of 6 floors of luxury boxes. The lower section of the stadium consists of four stands—known as Norte, Sur, Oriente, and Occidente (North, South, East, and West respectively)—each having its own entrance. The east and west stands are all-seaters, while the north and south stands have standing terraces. Behind the western and eastern stands, there is a handicapped zone. In the center of the western stand the Palco Oficial is situated for about 600 spectators, which has a private entrance and commodities such as bathrooms and a cafeteria. Together, these four stands can receive 60,000 spectators. The upper section consists of the luxury box suites which are 1,250 in total for 20,000 spectators approximately; the suite owners have a private parking lot.[6][7]

The main field is 18 m (59 ft) below ground level and from the outside the stadium, only the luxury suites are visible. The field is 105 m × 70 m (344 ft × 230 ft) in size. Modern floodlighting was installed, with a total of 160 Ultra Sport General Electric spotlights of 2,000 watts with four levels of illumination. Above the northern stand, an LED display electronic scoreboard stands which measures 8 m × 10 m (26 ft × 33 ft). Above the southern stand, a Philips screen is situated that measures 10 m × 6 m (33 ft × 20 ft). Above the western stand, a surveillance room with eight security cameras monitoring the interiors and exteriors of the stadium. The field is watered by sprinkler irrigation.[6][7]

The stadium has four changing rooms which are below the western stand; two of them are the main changing rooms for the main game the stadium hosts, while the other two are for teams participating in a preliminary match. The changing rooms include showers, bathrooms, dressing rooms, and massage rooms. The main changing rooms have an office for the manager of the team. There is also an anti-doping room, a referees changing room, and a chapel. Below the southern stand is a changing room for musical concert personnel.[7]

In the western stand–Occidente–the first floor of the upper section was exclusively made for the media and press. There are 168 positions for newspaper journalists in addition to 32 cabins for radio broadcasts as well as 5 specially-made positions for television broadcasts. Two photography laboratories are available. Several rooms are also available for the press, press conferences, telecommunications, and accreditation.[6]

View of the stadium from Avenida Javier Prado.

Universitario de Deportes is the Monumental's principal tenant as well as the owner of the entire sports complex. The football club plays its home games for domestic and international matches since its opening in 2000. The inaugural match was played on 2 July 2000 against Sporting Cristal for the local Primera División with a record assistance of 54,708 spectators (not counting luxury boxes). The new stadium replaced the club's Estadio Teodoro Lolo Fernandez which now serves as the club's social headquarters in addition to a training centre. Since its opening, the most important derby of Peru has been repeatedly prohibited from being played there because of security issues. On 26 June 2002, the derby was allowed to be played for the first time at the Monumental between Universitario and Alianza Lima for the Torneo Apertura trophy. This first leg match was a 1–0 victory for Universitario; however the aftermath of the match inside and outside of stadium was disastrous leading to further prohibition of the match from the Monumental. After the derby's six-year absence from the Monumental, on 14 September 2008 the Estadio Monumental hosted a second derby after the club fought bitterly, seeking the authorities' approval to be able to host the game. This time the derby was successfully hosted without security issues and subsequently the stadium was not rejected for further derby matches in the following seasons.

The Peru national football team has been a minor tenant of the Monumental. Although the Estadio Nacional is the national team's home venue, on more than one occasion has Peru played at the Monumental. The first match Peru played at the Monumental was on 2 June 2001 against Ecuador for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. The match was an unfortunate 2–1 loss for the home side. A second qualifier was played later that year against Bolivia which was also their last fixture of the 2002 qualifiers which ended in a 1–1 draw. The Monumental hosted a third match for the national team in 2003, however this was only a friendly against Paraguay; the match was Peru's second loss at this stadium. Peru's fourth match at the Monumental was a new qualifying match in 2003 for the 2006 FIFA World Cup against Brazil. The match was 1–1 draw and there was a record assistance of 59,566 spectators. Due to the installation of artificial turf at the Estadio Nacional, the Estadio Monumental hosted 8 of Peru's 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. Of these 8 matches, 2 wins were achieved against Venezuela and Uruguay, both 1–0 victories.

The stadium hosted the Finalisima of the 2008 Copa Perú. This was the final stage of Peru's promotion tournament in which four teams played in six matches in order to gain promotion to the first division. The champion Sport Huancayo and runner-up Colegio Nacional Iquitos were promoted the first division while third place Atlético Torino and fourth place Cobresol FBC were promoted to the Segunda División.

The Monumental had a chance to be a venue for the 2004 Copa América, however conflict ignited between the club and the tournament organizers which led to the absence of this stadium from the event.

Panoramic view of Universitario's 85,000-seater stadium on 13 December 2009 for the Descentralizado second leg playoff against rival Alianza Lima.

Estadio Monumenta has played host to several world-acclaimed musical artists such as:

• Sui Generis - Reunion Tour, 2001
• Alejandro Sanz - No Es Lo Mismo Tour, 2004
• Roger Waters - The Dark Side of the Moon Live, 2007
• Kylie Minogue - KylieX2008, 2008
• The Killers - Day & Age Tour, 2009
• Beyoncé - I Am... World Tour, 2010
• Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy Tour, 2010
• The Black Eyed Peas - The E.N.D World Tour, 2010
• Paul McCartney - Up and Coming Tour, 2011
• Miley Cyrus - Gypsy Heart Tour, 2011
• Britney Spears - Femme Fatale Tour, 2011
• Maroon 5 - Overexposed Tour, 2012
• The Rolling Stones - América Latina Olé Tour 2016, 2016
• Guns N' Roses - Not in This Lifetime... Tour, 2016
• Roger Waters - Us + Them Tour, 2018

• Satellite picture by Google Maps