Fans promise a “soccer Maidan” to protect Olympic Stadium

There are problems galore as Ukraine approaches the final stretch of preparing for the Euro-12 soccer championship. According to sports organizations, the Western press is reporting now and again that Poland is in a position to hold the competition by itself, without Ukraine. Activists of the Civic Committee to Protect the National Olympic Sports Complex (NOSK) believe that such fears are not unfounded. For that reason they are demanding that the Ukrainian authorities put a halt to the construction of the Troitsky shopping and entertainment center next to the NOSC, rightly considered the sports heart of our country. In a deal reached between the UEFA and Ukraine, this is where the final game of the championship should be held. Activists are convinced that the mall will make it impossible to implement this agreement because it will hinder the evacuation of spectators during soccer matches.

“The reconstruction of the Olympic Stadium and making it suitable for world-class competitions does not require that much money, compared to the rebuilding of other stadiums, like Dynamo,” says Andrii Bilous, chairman of the Civic Committee to Protect the National Olympic Sports Complex. “The first thing that has to be done is to increase the number of entry and exit turnstiles and set up a European-style parking lot. This will be next to impossible if the Troitsky mall is built next to the stadium, because the new structure will occupy part of the stadium’s land resources. But the point is not just that the mall will hinder the stadium reconstruction — the Olympic complex may cease to exist altogether. The dwindling number of spectators will push the complex into bankruptcy and then it will be sold. But the Ukrainian president’s decree of Aug. 31, banning the construction of the Troitsky mall next to the sports complex, provides legal grounds for fans to mobilize their forces to oppose the builders (which, incidentally, they did today).”

The activists are still not revealing their trump card as far as their concrete actions are concerned. According to the project coordinator Denys Denysov, a mass protest action may be held on the city’s central square. More than 20,000 people are ready to defend Euro-2012 and save the Olympic complex.

Under an agreement with the UEFA, the reconstruction of the NOSK will begin after the Ukraine vs. France match. Sports activists intend to see that the mall is banished from the stadium’s territory before then. It remains to be seen whether soccer fans will manage “to score a goal” against investors. In any case, they promise to defend the Olympic complex to the bitter end.