Amsterdam intends to build a megastadium. This was announced yesterday by the Amsterdam alderman for Sports, Carolien Gehrels. With the new megastadium Amsterdam makes a bid for the 2018 World Cup Soccer or the 2028 Olympic Games.
The stadium, that will have some 80,000 seats, is planned on a site between the cities of Amsterdam and Almere. The construction of the stadium will cost some €60 to €80 million.
According to the alderman, the capacity of the existing stadium, Amsterdam ArenA, is insufficient to host a major sports game. "Amsterdam recently applied for a Champions League final in the ArenA," she stated in the Dutch newspaper AD. "The UEFA rejected our application because the ArenA stadium is too small."
The World Cup and Olympic Games are not the only major sports events that Amsterdam would like to host. Gehrels also focuses on the 2014 or 2016 European Athletics Championships. These championships could take place in the Olympisch Stadion, which in that case needs to be extended.
By organizing many major sports events, the alderman attempts to demonstrate to the UEFA and the IOC that Amsterdam is capable of organizing the World Cup Soccer and the Olympic Games.
Opening of the new megastadium is scheduled for 2018. This year, the Municipality of Amsterdam will undertake a feasability study of the construction of the new megastadium.
Source: Volkskrant
