Spanish LaLiga football club Atlético Madrid’s president Enrique Cerezo has dismissed concerns that the new Wanda Metropolitano stadium would not be complete before the September 2017 deadline.
According to ESPN FC, Atlético chief executive Miguel Angel Gil Marin admitted last week that work on transport links around the area is running behind schedule, with his club advancing a total of €44m (£37.7m/$46.3m) to ensure the required infrastructure was completed on time.
Atlético is moving into the almost newly renovated 70,000-seat former athletics stadium on the outskirts of the city from its old ground Estadio Vicente Calderon.
Cerezo said the “magnificent” ground will be the “best in Europe,” and the build is battling with Baku’s Olympic Stadium to host the 2018-19 Champions League final.
“In other stadiums in Europe it can take two hours to get in and get out,” Cerezo said. “Here it will be much quicker. We are going to try so that it is much better and fitted to these modern times.
“It is not a question of money, more or less just a question of the permits. Everything will be done in time. We are pulling off a great stroke with the move, although don’t misunderstand me, I don’t mean a financial stroke.
“At the start with this stadium we were going to earn more than €100m, and now we are down €170m. So you can see our determination to get it done as soon as possible, so that everyone can enjoy this magnificent stadium which will be the best in Europe.”
The total cost of the rebuilt stadium is reportedly €300m. Financing for the construction work has come from Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim’s Inbursa Bank, while China’s Wanda Group, which owns a 20 per cent stake in Atlético, has paid an unknown sum for the naming rights to the club’s new home.
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