ABSTRACT
On 26 March 2011, the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica (National Stadium of Costa Rica) opened to great fanfare. The 35,000-seat stadium hosted no fewer than nine events that weekend, including two international friendly football matches, a Shakira concert and a national prizefight (Miller, 2011). The story of how this ‘crown jewel of Costa Rica’ came to exist, however, sheds light on not only the strong commitment people in Costa Rica feel about football and sport but also the diplomatic relationship between Costa Rica and China. In June 2007, former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan, after which the Chinese government offered to build a US$100 million stadium as a gift. During the national stadium groundbreaking ceremony in March 2009, Arias said ‘thanks to the immense generosity of the nation of China, this dream will be possible in a matter of months … today we lay down the first brick of a stadium that will be proportional to the passion of our nation; a stadium that will be the heart of our country’ (Arias cited in Miller, 2011, 1). The building of the national stadium with no cost for the people of Costa Rica can be seen as the most precious gift the country received and ever imagined. The passion and importance sport plays in the lives of Costa Ricans was well understood by the Chinese authorities when deciding to compensate the government of Costa Rica for their decision to align with China instead of Taiwan.
