J&T To Build a New Football Stadium in Bratislava

J&T REAL ESTATE will be a developer for the National Football Stadium in Bratislava. This arises from a consent of three Bratislava football clubs, the Football Union and the Capital City of Bratislava. Rental of lands for the stadium was approved yesterday by the Bratislava City Council.

The new football stadium will be located at the place of the current ŠK Slovan Stadium and its construction should start in the next year with completion scheduled for 2010. The costs of construction is estimated to 3-5 billion Crowns.

"Economic study is being prepared now and the project is being designed to be able to start the construction in the next year. So today we are not yet able to specify how the stadium will look," explains Juraj Ilavský, project manager. "Several alternatives are being investigated in regards to the capacity of the Stadium, we review the transport solutions and services to be provided at the Stadium for sportsmen and visitors of sport events or other events organised here, so that the Stadium provides comfort for everybody at a level comparable to the top sporting arenas we are used to seeing in other countries," he adds.

The main project entity is Národný futbalový štadión a.s., in which TESAKO s.r.o. holds a 90% share. TESAKO represents investors who united for the National Football Stadium project.

TESACO is the owner of the old ŠK Slovak Stadium. However, lands under the stadium belonged to the city. The decision made by the City Council to rent the lands under the Slovan Stadium for the purpose of building the National Football Stadium was a key decision that facilitated the implementation of the project as such.

This decision and the entire project are crucial, because the Slovak National Team and clubs faced a threat that international matches would have to be played in stadiums in Vienna or Budapest from 2008, since none of the stadiums in Bratislava complies with FIFA requirements. It is expected that commenced construction works on the stadium will be a sufficient signal for FIFA to extend the exception and Slovakia will prevent an international sporting shame from happening.

The National Football Stadium will probably be a global curiosity, as three Bratislava clubs - Artmedia, Slovan and Inter - will play their matches there as well as the national team. In addition, various social and cultural events are considered to take place there. Investors therefore expect that rentals of the Stadium for clubs, national team and organisers of various events should ensure return on the investment.