Construction work on Batumi Stadium, a 20,000-seat football ground in Georgia, kicked off yesterday (Sunday).
Fans of FC Dinamo Batumi will be able to watch their team play in its new Black Sea resort city home by 2020.
The design was confirmed to meet the UEFA category IV requirements last year, allowing construction on the estimated 99m GEL ($38m/€31m/£27m) to get underway this week.
During the 2016-17 season, Dinamo Batumi saw an average attendance of just 300 spectators per game. It played its home games in the Erovnuli Liga top division at the 2,000-capacity Batumi Rugby Arena. The club finished in eighth position and have been relegated to the second division this year.
The top Georgian league’s largest stadium is Dinamo Tbilisi’s 55,000-seat Dinamo Arena, which saw an average of 663 supporters per game. The league’s total average attendance is a mere 700 fans.
“Today we witness the launch of a historic project in the history of independent Georgia as a brand new and modern stadium is being built in Batumi”, head of the government of Adjara, Zurab Pataradze said, according to the Agenda.ge website.
He added that the Batumi Stadium would “be a symbol of Georgia’s strength, unity and victory, which will not only support the development of sport, but also boost tourism in the region.”
While football matches will be the main event for the stadium, it will also be able to host various cultural events.
Image: pixabay
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