Greek authorities have closed the country’s largest sports stadium amid concerns about the stability of its steel dome, an architectural landmark built for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
The Olympic Stadium, with a capacity of 70,000, hosts major sporting events throughout the year, including the UEFA Champions Leagueas well as sold-out concerts, most recently by Guns N’ Roses this summer.
Stadium officials have decided to indefinitely halt all activities after a study found that the roof of the stadium, as well as that of the country’s only nearby bicycle track, “did not meet the legally permitted levels of static adequacy.”
Both venues are located at the Athens Olympic Athletic Center (OAKA), the largest sports complex in Greece covering 100 hectares and which was 2004 Games venue but it has been deteriorating since then. The soccer clubl Panathinaikos has used the stadium for the team’s European home games in the 2023-24 season, playing against Spain’s Villarreal last month.
After meeting with sports officials, including the Hellenic Olympic Committee, on Sunday, Sports Minister Yiannis Vroutsis said that The decision to close the facilities was “painful” and that efforts were being made to find the best solution for “where the heart of Greek sport beats.”
Originally built in 1982, The famous dome of the Olympic stadium was designed by award-winning Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, who also designed New York’s Ground Zero transportation hub.
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The Conservative government, which was elected to a second four-year term in July, has faced criticism over the deteriorating state of the Olympic complex. He had promised to renew it in 2021 and had commissioned a study on the state of its facilities.
In a video on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Stefanos Kasselakis, the newly elected leader of the leftist opposition Syrizacalled to the dome “the symbol of a country that is collapsing at all levels; a State that leaves everything and everyone to their fate.” (Reporting by Karolina Tagaris; Editing by Andrew Heavens)