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Atlético engages KPMG for Sports City project

Spanish LaLiga football club Atlético de Madrid has reportedly hired professional services firm KPMG to support the development of its new Sports City project.

According to Spanish newspaper Expansión, KPMG will work closely with the club on the project, which the Madrid City Council approved last month.

KPMG will reportedly draw up an evaluation report assessing the viability and sustainability of the project, and assess the positive impacts the new infrastructure will have on the surrounding area.

The project will surround Atlético’s newly-named Cívitas Metropolitano stadium and will see five plots of land transferred to the club for a period of 75 years. Three of these plots will form part of the Sports City, with Atlético planning on building public sports facilities on two other plots near the stadium, the main facility being a new athletics stadium.

The proposal put forward by Atlético includes the construction of six football pitches that would serve as the base for a new training facility for the club’s first team, reserve team and youth teams.

The proposal also includes a 6,000-seat mini stadium for its reserve and women’s teams, 25 padel courts, a climbing wall, a surfing area and a skateboarding space. Commercial and hotel space also forms part of the wide-ranging project, which would be financed by the club at a reported cost of €200m (£167.7m/$207.4m).

Last month, Atlético agreed a 10-season deal for real estate developer Cívitas to assume naming rights to its home stadium. Cívitas, which took over from Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group as the stadium sponsor, will also support Atlético’s Sports City project.

It is hoped that work on the project, which will be partially funded by the LaLiga Impulso venture, can begin by the end of the year.

The Metropolitano opened in 2017 and was built on the site of the former Estadio Olímpico de Madrid. The old stadium formed part of Madrid’s unsuccessful bid to stage the 2016 Olympic Games and closed down in 2004.

Image: Jose A./CC BY 2.0/Edited for size