Eurostadium

Eurostadium

Eurostadium

Cancelled stadium project just north of Brussels, Belgium

Eurostadium was a proposed stadium in Grimbergen, Belgium, just north of Brussels. It would have had a capacity of 62,613.[1] In June 2015, the building deadline was set for 2019.[2] It would have hosted matches for UEFA Euro 2020,[3] and would have become the home ground of the national football team of Belgium.[4]

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The initial plans intended for it to be the home ground of RSC Anderlecht as well, but they withdrew from the project in an early stage.[2] In contrast to the current stadium at the Heysel Plateau, the King Baudouin Stadium, it would no longer contain an athletics track.[5]

History

In March 2015, the City of Brussels council chose the Ghelamco/BAM Consortium as best candidate to finance, build and exploit the stadium.[6] During the years that followed, however, the project was plagued by numerous political delays.[7][8] Anderlecht eventually pulled out of the project in February 2017.[9]

Because of the delays, concerns rose that the stadium would not be built in time for Euro 2020, or even at all.[10] On 7 December 2017, the UEFA Executive Committee decided, due to these delays and the uncertainty that the stadium would be completed in time, to remove Brussels as a host city for Euro 2020. The games scheduled to be held there were instead awarded to Wembley Stadium in London, which meant that London would now host a total of seven matches (this increased to eight during the actual tournament, following the removal of Dublin as a host due to sanitary issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic).[11][12][13][14]

On 30 January 2018, Flemish Minister Joke Schauvliege rejected the application from Ghelamco for an environmental permit, and as a result, the project was cancelled.[15]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "Eurostadium design submitted in UEFA bid". ARUP. 25 April 2014. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  2. [2]
    mvd; lej (20 June 2015). "Anderlecht speelt vanaf 2019 in nieuw stadion". De Standaard (in Dutch).
  3. [3]
    "UEFA EURO 2020 hosts to be revealed in Geneva". UEFA.com. 14 August 2014.
  4. [4]
    Sels, Geert (25 May 2013). "Koning Boudewijnstadion wordt afgebroken". De Standaard (in Dutch).
  5. [5]
    Verschueren, Rogier (2 December 2013). "Nationaal stadion zonder atletiekpiste op Heizel". De Standaard (in Dutch).
  6. [6]
    "Stad Brussel: "Ghelamco/BAM krijgt voorkeur voor bouw Eurostadion"" (in Dutch). Sporza. 19 March 2015. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  7. [7]
    "'Doodsteek dreigt voor Eurostadion'". De Tijd (in Dutch). 29 April 2016.
  8. [8]
    "En nóg een mokerslag voor Eurostadion: verkeerde rechter en opnieuw extra vertraging" (in Dutch). Voetbalkrant.com. 6 May 2016.
  9. [9]
    "Anderlecht stapt uit Eurostadion-project". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 17 February 2017.
  10. [10]
    Jef Poppelmonde (28 March 2017). "'Definitieve doodsteek voor het Eurostadion'". De Standaard (in Dutch).
  11. [11]
    "Euro 2020: Wembley to host seven matches after Brussels loses right to host games". BBC Sport. 7 December 2017.
  12. [12]
    "EURO 2020 to open in Rome, more London games, venues paired". UEFA.com. UEFA. 2017-12-07. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
  13. [13]
    "Wembley to host four extra Euro 2020 games as Brussels lose right to host fixtures". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
  14. [14]
    "Wembley handed four more Euro 2020 matches as Wales misses out". the Guardian. 2017-12-07. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
  15. [15]
    Bradshaw, Lisa (30 January 2018). "No environmental permit for Eurostadium". Flanders Today. Archived from the original on 18 June 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
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