The Berlin Senate has opposed plans to transform the city’s Olympiastadion into a football-specific venue for Bundesliga club Hertha Berlin.
The 74,000-seat stadium primarily serves as the home of Hertha but is also a major athletics venue, having hosted the recently concluded European Championships.
Hertha last year detailed plans to build a 55,000-seat stadium on the site of the current facility. Hertha’s rental agreement for the Olympiastadion expires in 2025 and the club is eyeing a smaller, football-specific venue to create a better atmosphere on match days.
Andreas Geisel, State Minister of the Interior of Berlin, has revealed that transforming the current stadium into a football-specific facility would cost approximately €200m of taxpayers’ money. Speaking to local broadcaster RBB, Geisel said that the plans are “pretty much out of the question”.
Geisel added: “Hertha belongs in Berlin and if Hertha says they want to talk to us about it, then it goes without saying that we talk about it, but you realise that I am sceptical.”
Image: Rebecca Leisten
