Soccer fans will feel comfortable

The deadline for completing the construction of Dnipro Stadium, where the Euro-2012 soccer championship matches will be held, has been extended again. Although the Dnipropetrovsk authorities had promised to open it in mid- September this year, on the eve of City Day, there is still a lot of unfinished work. Nevertheless, Mayor Ivan Kulichenko believes that the delay in opening the stadium merely demonstrates the serious attitude of the clients and builders to their assigned task.

The construction of the stadium has assumed strategic importance. Whereas earlier it was being built as an arena for the Dnipro Soccer Club, now the idea to grant the stadium national status is being bruited about. According to Andrii Pavelko, chairman of the Soccer Federation’s Dnipropetrovsk regional branch, an understanding has been reached that Dnipro Stadium will be the home arena for Ukraine’s national soccer team. It will host the 2010 qualification rounds, friendly, and other international-level matches against foreign teams. This is why the stadium as well as the adjacent terrain must meet all world standards.

The Dnipropetrovsk mayor told journalists that what also adversely affected the construction was the delay of the Ministry of Defense in transferring to the city’s ownership the land of a nearby military unit, where the city authorities plan to build parking lots capable of accommodating cars and buses with thousands of soccer fans. The unit has been relocated, but no relevant documents have been signed so far. Meanwhile, tramps and looters are plundering the area.

There are also differences with German builders on whether the area of responsibility includes the territory and roads surrounding the stadium. The mayor said that, in spite of this, representatives of the Euro-2012 organizing committee, who recently visited Dnipropetrovsk, liked the fact that the stadium is located downtown near the railway station and has access roads from all sides. There is even an emergency hospital two or three blocks away. When he was contemplating repairing the streets near the stadium, Kulichenko hit upon the idea of creating a pedestrian zone and opening a roadside cafe for fans. The mayor plans to have it built on the site of a run-down public toilet in Illich Park, next to the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Administration.

Until now, soccer fans have traditionally gathered near the eastern entrance to the Central Lazar Hloba Recreation Park. But the mayor thinks that a park that was recently granted the status of a children’s facility is not a proper place for them. Local fans do not know the likely relocation of their hangout.