Romanian Liga I football club Rapid București has taken control of the Stadionul Giuleşti after the Government declared that construction work on the new stadium has officially been completed.
The 14,050-seat stadium has been built in place of the Stadionul Giulești-Valentin Stănescu and had been envisioned as one of four venues to support Bucharest’s status as a host city for the postponed UEFA Euro 2020 national team tournament.
Of the four stadia intended for use as training centres for Euro 2020, only two – Stadionul Naţional de Rugby Arcul de Triumf and Arena Națională, the latter of which also hosted games during last year’s tournament – were eventually ready in time. In January 2019, the Government removed the proposed new-look home for Dinamo București from its hosting plan for Euro 2020 after stating the project had been postponed indefinitely.
Work commenced on the new Giuleşti in February 2019 with the demolition of the old stadium. The new venue cost 185,333,607.39 lei (£31.35m/€37.46m/$42.47m) to develop and, as befits Rapid’s status as a multi-sport club, also includes an athletics track, plus training facilities for other sports.
The project was led by the National Investment Company (CNI). Minister of Development, Public Works and Administration, Attila Cseke, said, according to Romanian news agency Agerpres: “We are at an important moment for Rapid fans and for all those who love football, but also other sports, because here athletes from other sports will also be trained.
“After two years and two months of work we are now able to hand over this important investment. It is an investment by the Romanian state worth 185 million lei in a stadium that has 14,050 available seats. I am sure that this stadium will bring great joy to all those who will visit here, either on the grass of the pitch or in the stands.”
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport, Sorin Grindeanu, added that the 2022 budget has allocated 60 million lei to equip the various training centres within the stadium. He added: “The management of CS Rapid will certainly want to start work on this stadium as soon as possible.
“The budget, on the part related to the Ministry of Transport, provides about 60 million lei for facilities in this stadium. Because here we also have karate and judo halls, there is an athletics track and all these things must benefit from facilities.
“So this money is in the budget and the (Rapid) president will want to officially start work on this new goal because this complex was not made to stand still.”
Image: CNI
