Feature

Atletico Madrid fans’ group speaks out against Wanda Metropolitano

Atletico Madrid’s impending move to a new stadium could be delayed by a legal challenge presented by a fans’ group of the Spanish LaLiga football club.

The Senales de Humo group has published a statement that questions the legality of the agreement between the club and the city council for the construction of the stadium.

The club is due to move into the state-of-the-art Wanda Metropolitano stadium at the start of the 2017-18 season. The 67,000-seat stadium has been built on the site of the La Peineta athletics venue (pictured).

ESPN reports that Senales de Humo has long held issues with the club’s owners, Miguel Angel Gil Marin and Enrique Cerezo. Stadium issues that the group is seeking clarification on include whether permission was granted to build on the site, the number of parking spaces available and the risk of noise pollution during matches.

The group’s statement read: “ASdH challenges the changes being made to the area during the construction of the so-called Estadio Wanda Metropolitano and its surroundings. The legal challenge has fallen to the Seccion Primera de la Sala de lo Contencioso Administrativo del Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Madrid, who have previously found in favour of other challenges made by Asociacion Senales de Humo, specifically in the area Mahou-Calderon.

“The principal motive to present this challenge is that, just like on other occasions, our statutes oblige us to make sure that all actions taken by Atletico Madrid are undertaken within strict legality. Given the previous record of the directors and illegitimate owners of the club, Miguel Angel Gil Marin and Enrique Cerezo, we understand that it is necessary to test the legality of everything they propose.”

Atletico bid farewell to the Vicente Calderon stadium last season and Senales de Humo has suggested that the venue be used at the start of the new campaign if there are issues surrounding the Wanda Metropolitano.

The statement added: “We understand that these irregularities will impact on the future granting of a licence to use the so-called Estadio Wanda Metropolitano, and we are asking for this to be halted until they are resolved. So we ask the club to make the preparations necessary in case of a lack of authorisation to use (the new stadium) next season, given that the Estadio Vicente Calderon remains in a perfect state of use.”

Image: Asqueladd