In Brno, a petition for a new football stadium has been launched

Brno - A petition for the construction of a new football stadium in Brno was launched today with initial signatures. The idea was revived by the farewell event of Petr Švancara, which will take place on June 27 at the stadium behind Lužánky. Among the first to sign the petition was the mayor of Brno, Petr Vokřál.
    The leadership of Brno has already begun legal analyses and preliminary project preparations. "If everything goes well, we could come to a decision next year on how we will finance the construction, who will help us financially, and how we will operate the stadium. Then a new stadium could be built within two years," Vokřál stated at a press conference.
    He claims that financing for the construction of the stadium can be secured. "The problem with Brno at the moment is that even if we had a billion, we wouldn't have anything to spend it on. There are no projects prepared," lamented the mayor, who was surprised that many interested parties have appeared with offers to be partners willing to take on the financial burden.
    "But nothing is free. It would be on a commercial basis. Various international companies from Germany, Great Britain, and France are coming forward. They build sports infrastructure of this type on various bases. Their great advantage is that they also organize cultural and social events and can fill the stadium even outside of football matches," Vokřál declared.
    The cost of the new football stadium will depend on the seating capacity. They are considering options from 15,000 to 30,000 spectators. Vokřál believes that the optimal option is a seating capacity of 22,500 visitors. "With the possibility to expand to 30,000 spectators if the Czech Republic hosts a major football event. In that case, we would be talking about a budget of 1.7 to 2.5 billion crowns," he said.
    The nearest major event, the Under-21 European Championship, which will start next week, has been bypassing the South Moravian metropolis due to the inadequate stadium. "The European federation UEFA was, however, very interested in having one group play in the second largest Czech city, Brno, where there is adequate hotel infrastructure, football tradition, and spectator support. After inspecting the current stadium in Královo Pole, this option understandably fell through," said Petr Fousek, chairman of the organizing committee for the Under-21 European Championship, to ČTK.
    If it is decided that the stadium in Brno will be constructed based on an already prepared project for 20,000 spectators, further steps could follow quickly. "However, we want to review this project, which I do not want to question. It is necessary to obtain an opinion from an international perspective. To minimize operational shortcomings and optimize the project," added Vokřál, who supported the petition as a citizen of Brno and called for support from other politicians.
    "I greatly appreciate the work that volunteers have put into the upgrading of the stadium (behind Lužánky). I am proud that we have such fans in Brno. If they believe in something, they can do something for a good cause. This fills me with hope that we can build the stadium," Vokřál stated.
    Švancar's farewell is likely to be sold out soon; this morning there were still 800 tickets left in presale. A total of 23,000 tickets went on sale, mostly standing, while another two thousand are reserved for VIP guests. "More people can't fit in the stadium under current conditions. The seating area can't be expanded any further," Švancara lamented.