A stadium worth more than 600 million euros was built in Budapest for the World Cup. Half of it is dismantled when the last medal is awarded.
The World Championships in Athletics start on Saturday in Budapest in a rather large Ökyarena.
You can see from everything that the stadium, which can hold 35,000 spectators, has been made to last. Hungary built the National Athletics Center on the east bank of the Danube specifically for the World Cup events.
American according to news agency AP the light-colored arena cost no less than 700 million dollars, or a good 642 million euros. The website called Stadium database tells The Budapest Arena is the most expensive sports building in Hungarian history.
– The price of the stadium is much more than at the point when the organizers told their calculations. It has more or less doubled, the Finnish member of the board of the International Association of Athletics Federations (WA). Antti Pihlakoski says.
This is what the National Athletics Center looks like. PASI LEISMA
According to The Stadium Business the arena was originally supposed to cost 310 million euros.
– Construction costs have increased. The exchange rate of the Hungarian currency, the forint, has also weakened a lot, Pihlakoski estimates.
For comparison, the renovation of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium cost 330 million euros. The price tag for Tampere’s Nokia Arena was 120 million, and the cost estimate for the entire complex was around 500 million euros.
The sides are dismantled
Antti Pihlakoski praises the new stadium. PASI LEISMA
When granting the rights to organize international sports events, more and more thought has been given as to whether the games should be given to a city where the performance venues are already ready.
Pihlakoski sees a big goal behind Hungary’s new construction.
– It’s no secret that they plan to apply for the Olympics. They have already organized prestigious competitions in important summer Olympic sports, such as two World Championships in swimming.
– The athletics stadium has been missing here. It suggests that the Olympics are wanted.
The tubular upper grandstand will be dismantled after the World Cup. PASI LEISMA
The temporary structure can be reassembled if Budapest gets a new major championship. PASI LEISMA
Budapest has previously hosted two prestigious adult athletics competitions. Nepstadion, the shrine of the 1966 and 1998 European Championships, was demolished in 2017 to make way for a football arena, so there was a need for a new arena.
However, fresh pytinki in its current form will only be around for a while. Spectator capacity will drop from 35,000 to 15,000, as the stadium’s tubular upper stand will be dismantled after the World Cup.
– When the possible Olympics come, the pieces could be put back, Pihlakoski believes.
According to WA’s website, the stadium will be used in the future, among other things, as a competition venue and training center for Hungarian athletes.
Application out
Stadium and light and round. PDO
The construction of large sports venues has been called by the autocratic prime minister Viktor Orbán as a way to gain a good reputation for Hungary in the world.
Hungary applied for the 2024 Summer Olympics, but withdrew its application due to strong public opposition.
Iltalehti could not reach the World Cup organizers to comment on the stadium and its costs.
The stadium is located on the banks of the Danube. PASI LEISMA