After the country's coup d'état in 1973 which toppled the Government and brought in a military junta led by Augusto Pinochet, the Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos was used as a detention centre to hold political opponents.

More than 40,000 people are said to have been forced there during the junta's regime, with the field and gallery used to hold men and women placed in the swimming pool changing rooms and other areas.

Interrogations were carried out at the site's velodrome with estimates saying that 7,000 prisoners were held in the Stadium at one stage.

Some were tortured or executed at unknown locations, while Pinochet was known to use the Stadium's public address system to shout and swear at those detained.

A section of the Stadium with wooden seats was cordoned off in 2011 and is surrounded by barbed wire, in memory of the prisoners.

The Stadium is due to host the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and athletics at the Pan American Games, which come in the 50th anniversary year of the coup.

Chilean painter Alejandro "Mono" González is to produce the mural on a silo near the Guillermo Mann exit.

It will feature the face of a "woman watching", representing the women prisoners saw through windows who were waiting for news of their relatives.

A "fallen man" will also be included, which will not represent defeat but rather that those lost remain present.

"When prisoners were taken out of their detention centres and taken to the velodrome, this was the point of greatest pain," said González.

"We hope to present a beacon in this silo.

"This is a place that is linked to our history in every way. 

"It was a fundamental place when we hosted the 1962 World Cup, and, also, it was fundamental when we lived in dictatorship. 

"Today, it is enjoying a gigantic change to strengthen itself as a sports venue. 

"The recognition that will be made with this mural gives an account of a memory that has been made step by step."

Chile returned to democracy in 1990.

In 1974, then FIFA President Sir Stanley Rous demanded that the Soviet Union play a World Cup qualifier against Chile at the Stadium while it was being used as a camp.

When they refused to do so, Chile qualified for the 1974 FIFA World Cup in Germany automatically.

Santiago 2023 is due to run between October 20 and November 5.