Estádio Dr. João Cláudio Vasconcelos Machado, usually known as Machadão, was a multi-purpose stadium in the Brazilian city of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte.

The stadium was named after João Cláudio Vasconcelos Machado, who was the president of the Rio Grande do Norte Football Federation and a sports broadcaster.

Estádio Machadão (along with the Ginasio do Machadindo) was demolished at the end of 2011 to make room for the construction of the Arena das Dunas for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The inaugural match was played on July 4 of that year, when ABC beat América de Natal 1–0.

[2][3] Upon the selection of Natal to be a host city of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the government decided that the construction of a new stadium was necessary.