🏟️Inside the state· 2015-2025
Antel Arena: JUTEP saw everything by exception, prosecutors closed it
JUTEP concluded Antel inverted the rule and contracted the works by exception; prosecutors definitively closed the criminal case in February 2025.
Figure published by the sources
US$ 85.995.517 según el Tribunal de Cuentas en 2019; US$ 119,7 millones de costo final según la JUTEP en 2021
Bodies involved
Administración Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (ANTEL)
What it is
The Antel Arena, opened in November 2018 on the site of the former Cilindro Municipal, was the largest building project by state telecoms company Antel. The initial estimate announced when Carolina Cosse chaired the company was US$40 million, revised to US$55 million in 2015. In March 2019, in response to a request for information from Senator Pablo Mieres (Partido Independiente), the Court of Accounts put the total cost at US$85,995,517, covering the arena, a nursery, a sports hall and the outdoor areas, as la diaria reported. Antel's new board later filed a complaint with prosecutors alleging departures from and breaches of administrative contracting rules and principles.
What is questioned
On 21 September 2021 El Observador reported that JUTEP concluded Antel had breached the principles of probity, transparency, efficiency and legality. According to that report, the company inverted the general rule and contracted everything through exception routes instead of ordinary procedures, something repeatedly flagged by the Court of Accounts without consequence; it classified information as confidential for ten years without establishing objective grounds for doing so; there was no complete business plan, or it was not accessible; and there was spending without sufficient budget availability. JUTEP used a final cost figure of US$119.7 million and losses of nearly US$4 million in the first 20 months of operation. Telenoche reported on 22 February 2024 that three figures coexist: the US$40 million estimated when the project was announced, the more than US$85 million from the Court of Accounts —the figure prosecutors adopted— and the US$120 million from an audit commissioned by Antel itself.
Why it matters to you
Antel is a state company with its own revenues: the works were paid for with what it bills for telephony and internet, without passing through the budget Parliament votes. The case shows how far a state company can go when it contracts by exception and the oversight body can only place its objection on record.
Where it stands
On 13 February 2025 El Observador reported that prosecutor Enrique Rodríguez definitively closed the investigation. He concluded that accounting experts found no irregularities in the procurement procedures, that direct contracting obtained better quotes to Antel's benefit and that no company reported corruption during the process; he found no deviation or irregularity in the conduct of those investigated that was subject to criminal sanction. The case had already been closed by prosecutor Alejandro Machado —who found no crime but did note carelessness and wasteful handling of resources— and reopened by judge Alejandro Asteggiante at the request of Antel's board. As of this file's closing (August 2026) there is no record of later developments.
This money does not travel through state procurement
The contract-by-contract cross-reference is not available for this file. The money is executed through a channel the public-procurement open data does not record, so putting a total here would be inventing it. The cited sources are, for now, the only public quantification.
Where it goes instead
Public-private partnerships (PPP), trusts, state-to-state contracts, direct agreements, or a state company's own budget. None of those channels publish their awards on the Compras Estatales portal.
Cost figures range between US$86 million and US$120 million depending on what is included: civil works, equipment, outdoor areas or operations. Prosecutors closed the case and no one was charged or convicted. JUTEP imposes no sanctions: its conclusions are an ethics opinion.
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