The court opened the lawsuit in Brno regarding the construction of the football stadium

Brno - The Municipal Court in Brno today began to address the lawsuit of the city of Brno against Czechcity regarding the determination of ownership of roads on city-owned land in the area behind Lužánky. The city wants to build a football stadium there, but the construction is obstructed by properties owned by entrepreneur Libor Procházka, who has a tennis hall and underground garages there. Brno asserts that the roads in the area belong to the city, while Procházka claims they belong to him. In the past, the city wanted to negotiate with Procházka for a property exchange, but the talks fell through.

The city states that the roads are part of the land owned by the city. Procházka argues that he acquired them from entrepreneur Lubomír Hrstka, who previously built the Bobycentrum hotel and other facilities in the area. According to the city, Hrstka only modified the roads, but Procházka's lawyer, Vítězslav Jíra, stated that documents indicate that the original roads were removed and new ones were created. Jíra also pointed out that the city had to share the same opinion several years ago when it wanted to purchase Procházka's properties, but changed its stance after a change in the political representation. Judge Alena Mezníková postponed the proceedings to April 15.

In the previous electoral period, the ANO movement, led at the time by Mayor Petr Vokřál (ANO), proposed that the city exchange Procházka's properties behind Lužánky in order to build a football stadium there. The original proposal was for an exchange for residential buildings, which met with opposition from their residents and some politicians, and later the discussion moved to an exchange for some historical buildings. At that time, the opposition and the then-representative of the Brno-Centre district, Markéta Vaňková (ODS), who became mayor after Vokřál following the elections two years ago, opposed that. According to Jíra, with the change in political representation, the city is no longer interested in negotiations. The city is involved in several other disputes with Procházka's companies. One of them will be addressed by Jíra with Vaňková on Monday. Jíra added that Procházka is open to negotiations and is interested in reaching an agreement.

Since the beginning of the millennium, the football stadium behind Lužánky has been falling into disrepair, where Zbrojovka previously won its only title. Five years ago, it was revived by the farewell to the career of footballer Petr Švancara, which drew over 30,000 people. The stadium occasionally hosts sports or cultural events; last year, a film about the legendary runner Emil Zátopek was shot there.