Image: Dinamo Zagreb
The Government of the Republic of Croatia and the City of Zagreb in partnership with the Croatian professional football club GNK Dinamo Zagreb and the Croatian Football Federation (the national governing body of football in Croatia) have presented a proposal for building a new home for Dinamo and the Croatian national football team and in this regard they have set out their stall.
‘gnkdinamo.hr’ stated that the above proposal still needs to be formally adopted at a session of the Government and the Zagreb City Assembly. As per the proposal the Co-owners of the new stadium would be the Government and the City on a 50/50 partnership basis and as per initial calculations the capital infusion would stand at circa 175 million euros.
The GNK Dinamo Zagreb, commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb, is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb, Croatia. Dinamo play their home matches at the Maksimir Stadium. They are the most successful club in Croatian football.
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The Maksimir Stadium is a multiuse stadium in Zagreb, Croatia. Named after the surrounding neighborhood of Maksimir it is one of the largest stadiums in Croatia with a current seating capacity of 25,912 and a maximum capacity of 35,423. It is the home stadium of the Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb and has been used since 1990 by the Croatian national football team for the majority of international competitions.
‘gnkdinamo.hr’ further stated that the first phase of the project would involve the renovation of the 5,350-capacity Stadion Kranjčevićeva in Zagreb. Once the renovation work is over the second phase will see the demolition of the Maksimir Stadium and the construction of a new one. The Stadion Kranjčevićeva rejig is expected to be completed by 2026 end and if everything is on track the new home arena of Dinamo will come on stream by the end of 2028 or the beginning of 2029.
An event was held in the blue hall of the Maksimir Stadium and the representatives of the Government, the City, the Croatian Football Federation, and Dinamo Zagreb formally presented the venue project in the presence of the Prime Minister (PM) of the Republic of Croatia Andrej Plenković and several other dignitaries.
Said Velimir Zajec, President of GNK Dinamo Zagreb, “The Croatian national football team played its first match in the Maksimir Stadium. I am very happy that we have arrived at a decision to raze down the present venue and build a new one. The present facility has helped in the growth of the Dinamo Zagreb.”
Put in Prime Minister Plenković, “Constructing a new stadium is the need of the hour. The game of football introduces us to the Cities of the world. It is very important that the new arena is so designed that it sends out a strong message to the world as to what football means to Zagreb, to Dinamo and to Croatia as a whole. The stadium should be worth a thousand words when it comes to defining soccer. Dinamo has brought laurels to the country and that further underscores the need to build a new stadium for the top-flight.”
Informed Branko Bačić, Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia, “We were in negotiations with the City for a long time to build a new home venue for Dinamo and finally arrived at a decision that the Government and the City would helm the stadium build process and would decide on the mutual rights and obligations.”
Exulted Tomislav Tomašević, Mayor of Zagreb, “This is a watershed moment and I am feeling very happy and fulfilled that finally a new home will be built for Dinamo and the Croatian national football team. The venue project holds great significance for me as a fan, as a citizen and as a Mayor. We arrived at the above decision after diving into several rounds of meetings and I would like to take the opportunity to thank the Government for its cooperation. The new stadium in Maksimir will have a capacity to pack in 35,000 spectators. The fans and the citizens want that the new stadium should sit on the site where the present facility stands.”
Mayor Tomašević informed that the redecoration of the Stadion Kranjčevićeva should begin soon.
Added Mayor Tomašević, “The City of Zagreb will inject 40 million euros to renovate the Stadion Kranjčevićeva which will serve as the temporary abode of Dinamo while their new home is being built. The City commissioned an investment study which revealed that a commercial investment would not stand the City in good stead and the Government was on the same page with us on this. The public-private partnership (PPP) model would be too great a public risk. That is why we decided to make the above a public investment. The Government and the City of Zagreb would be the Co-Owners of the stadium while the ongoing maintenance costs would be borne by a Private Manager who would be selected through a public tender.”
Continued Mayor Tomašević, “Dinamo has shown interest in bidding for the public tender. It is crucial that the Private Manager takes over the responsibility of maintaining the arena which involves significant costs. The Government and the City conducted a study involving over 50 stadiums in Europe. The study showed that maintaining a 35,000-seat stadium means a cost of around 5,000 euros per seat. That is around 175 million euros.”
Emphasizing that the above venue project plans would not have progressed without cooperation from the Government and Dinamo, the Mayor informed, “Both the Stadion Kranjčevićeva and the planned venue of Dinamo will meet the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) benchmarks and will be the crowning glory of the City of Zagreb. Once the venues are complete we will be in a position to organize sporting showcases as well as major music acts. Major acts do not come to Zagreb as we do not boast a chic venue which can host sporting shows or grand concerts.”
Maintained Marijan Kustić, President, Croatian Football Federation, “I am happy that the Government of Croatia has accorded topmost priority to sport and football and has realized the immense significance they hold. There were several naysayers on the above venue project but the Government, the City of Zagreb and Dinamo have adopted the right approach. The history of Croatian football has been written at the present Maksimir Stadium. The Dinamo surely deserves a spiffy new home as majority of the Dinamo players comprise the Croatian national team.”
Nyon (Switzerland)-based the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach football in Europe and the transcontinental countries of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan, as well as the West Asian countries of Cyprus, Armenia and Israel. The UEFA consists of 55 national association members. Since 2022, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the FIFA and UEFA suspended all Russian national teams and clubs from any FIFA and UEFA competitions.
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