Will the National Football Stadium have a commercial shell?

NATIONAL FOOTBALL STADIUM – when and where will it be built (III.)

A few days ago marked the fifth anniversary of the decision of the (then) Dzurinda government to build the National Football Stadium. According to another decision of the Fico government, construction of the roof structure on the National Football Stadium should already be underway these days – built on the site of the demolished Slovan Bratislava stadium. A third government decision on the stadium, scheduled for a July session of the Radičová government, has been postponed at least until August. The fact remains, however, that to this day it has not even been decided where the stadium will stand. So there are still several paths leading to the National Football Stadium.

COMPETITION AS THE MAIN PRINCIPLE

A new proposal for building the National Football Stadium is being prepared by the Ministry of Education, with the sports section led by Ladislav Križan and the advisory team headed by Jozef Tokos. According to the original plan, this proposal was to go for review and to the government this month, but the complexity of the issue and the differences in professional solutions suggest that the decision-making deadline will likely be delayed. Moreover, the government will not meet again until August, and its decision must be preceded by the review process, so to talk about a specific date now would be like reading from a crystal ball. And let us add that the political dimension of the whole project is not yet even being addressed – and this perspective will not be any easier than the expert debates about location, financing, and investors.

Jozef Tokos and Ján Marušinec from the advisory team say that precisely out of concerns that the football stadium might follow the example of the hockey arena, last year the resolution on the construction of the National Football Stadium was cancelled, and today a new concept is being prepared – reminiscent of that from 2006. In the public interest, both advisers say, it is necessary to provide space and time for the Slovak national football team so that it can play on our soil and in a stadium that meets UEFA and FIFA criteria.

Unlike the preferences of the former government, the current process for the stadium is to be dominated by a form of competition, where in the first phase an advisor will be selected who will set the details of the second procurement stage – in which the location, investor, and operator will be chosen, with the Slovak Football Association then contracting services for the national team’s needs.

Another possibility is a competition between investors’ projects, where one would propose a location and type of stadium, another would offer a different location and design, and the state would sign a contract with the winner.

It has not yet been decided what form of ownership the stadium will take – public, private, or mixed – but given the state’s financial situation, it is unlikely that the owner would be purely public (the city or region). In that case, unlikely as it may be, for example the Bratislava self-governing region would receive a state subsidy to build the stadium on its land in Petržalka. In another, mixed form of ownership, “a specialized joint-stock company would be created, where the municipality would contribute the land and a capital-strong partner would guarantee enough money to finance such a project,” says Marušinec.

Finances are also a limiting factor – neither the city (region) nor the state is likely to find €70 million in their budgets in the coming years for a national stadium, so a phased repayment plan will be considered.

FTÁČNIK DOES NOT RULE OUT ANY OPTION

Bratislava mayor Milan Ftáčnik, when asked whether the city wants to co-own the stadium or in some way take part in its ownership or management, replies that “the city can only participate by leasing the land. It does not want to be a co-owner, nor own or manage the stadium.”

On previous talks about the issue, Ftáčnik admitted he could imagine both options considered so far – building the stadium on a greenfield site in Petržalka or on the site of Slovan’s Tehelné pole stadium. “The advantage of Petržalka is that in terms of space, besides the National Stadium, two training pitches and the necessary facilities could fit there. But for this location, infrastructure must be built – networks and access roads,” says Ftáčnik. However, he does not rule out the second option either: “The Slovan site at Tehelné pole is smaller than Petržalka, but it already has infrastructure and excellent public transport connections. Therefore, we also consider this location realistic for the National Football Stadium.”

On the talks between the city and representatives of Slovan Bratislava, Ftáčnik said: “Mr. Kmotrík presented me the main idea that he wants to build a stadium for Slovan with his own money, which could also meet the parameters of a National Football Stadium. I expressed support for this idea. Based on our meeting, there was a session between the investor’s representative and the city’s experts, where volume studies of the stadium and the related construction in its surroundings were presented. The city staff made comments on the study and asked for them to be incorporated into the submitted documentation. The revised documentation has not yet been presented to the city.”

According to the mayor, however, the decisive word in choosing the location should belong to whoever will finance the stadium’s construction – and according to him, that certainly will not be Bratislava (...).