Hagia Sophia Stadium

Hagia Sophia Stadium
Full name Centre of Sports, Memory and Culture "Hagia Sophia"
Location Nea Filadelfeia, Athens, Greece
Coordinates 38°2′13.01″N 23°44′28.89″E / 38.0369472°N 23.7413583°E / 38.0369472; 23.7413583
Owner A.E.K. (sports club)
Operator Dikefalos 1924 S.A
Executive suites 40
Capacity 32,000–34,000
Surface Grass
Scoreboard 2
Construction
Broke ground TBA
Built TBA
Construction cost €65,000,000
Architect Thanassis Kyratsous
Project manager Dimitrios Andriopoulos
Tenants
AEK Athens
Website
Official Website

Haghia Sophia Stadium (Greek: Στάδιο Αγία Σοφία) is a planned football stadium in Nea Filadelfeia, a northwestern suburb of Athens, Greece for AEK Athens F.C. The stadium will be built at exactly the same location where the legendary home ground of AEK Athens F.C., Nikos Goumas Stadium was situated.

Name

The stadium will be named after the Greek Cathedral at Istanbul, Hagia Sophia. A commercial name will also be given to the stadium.[1]

History

In 1926, land in Nea Filadelfeia that was originally set aside for refugee housing was donated as a training ground for the refugees. AEK Athens F.C. began using the ground as training ground (albeit unofficially) and by 1930 the property was signed over to the club. The stadium was finished in 1929 and was officially opened in 1930. The first home game, in November 1930, was an exhibition match against Olympiacos which ended in a 2-2 draw.

Giannis Granitsas, President of A.E.K. (sports club) at the time, decided to demolish the stadium in June 2003, to built a new stadium at Nea Filadelfeia, as he claimed that the stadium was too old and was seriously damaged from the 1999 Athens earthquake.[2][3] His plan was to built a new stadium at the same site, which would include also a basketball indoor hall and a mall. The goal was for the stadium to be ready until the 2004 Summer Olympics.[4]

However, shortly after the construction of the new stadium were halted by the Council of State, which decided that the construction plans of the stadium were contrary to the Constitution of Greece.[4][4] In 2007 AEK Athens F.C. president Demis Nikolaidis announced that a new stadium would be build at Ano Losia. The plan was cancelled due to negative reaction by the fans and the bad financial situation of the club.

On 10 July 2013, the new owner of AEK Athens F.C. Dimitris Melissanidis , announced that a new stadium would be built at Nea Filadelfia. He also announced that the stadium's name would be Hagia Sophia.[5]

The first presentation of the stadium took place on 2 of October 2013 in the Miltos Kountouras hall at the Nea Filadelfia High School.[6][7] The project manager of the stadium Dimitris Andriopoulos announced the first features and facilities. The stadium will fulfill the criteria to be a four star in the UEFA stadium categories, it will have capacity of 32,000 - 34,000 and will have 40 suites. There will be a museum about the Greek refugees who left from Asia Minor in 1922 . It will offer 1500 - 2000 jobs during its construction and 250 - 400 permanent jobs when it will be constructed. The stadium's construction is expected to begin in 2014 and finish by 2015. The first images of the stadium were also exposed. The stadium is designed after the Walls of Constantinople where the club is originated from, and it will resemble a castle from the outside.[8]

The grand presentation of the stadium took place on 6 of November 2013 at the Onassis Cultural Center in Athens, which will contribute financially to the construction of the stadium. Technical information about the stadium were presented and the facilities of it were shown in a 20 minute video.[9][10]

On the 2nd of January 2015, the municipality of Filadelfeia-Chalkidona filed a complaint at the Council of State against the decision of the management of forests of afministration of Athens,[11] that allocates 6 acres from the Grove of Nea Filadelfeia.[12] Also, 17 citizens of the municipality of Filadelfeia-Chalkidona filed a complaint on the 1st of December 2014 about the same matter.

The case was heard at the Council of State on the 6th of March 2015.[13] The decision was issued on the 5th of June 2015, and it rejected the claims of the municipality and the citizens as unsubstansive and obscure.[14]

The plan for the building of the stadium was released in public consultation by the Ministry of Productive Reconstruction, Environment and Energy on the 22th of July. The process would be completed in 45 days.[15] The municipality of Filadelfeia - Chalkidona filed an application for an extension of the public consultation for an extra 45 days,[16] which was accepted.[17] The consultation was finally concluded on the 24th of November 2015.[18]

Funding

The construction cost is eastimated around € 65,000,000. The funding will be completed in three stages. The first phase of construction will cost € 25,900,000, the second phase € 20,000,000 and the third € 14,600,000.[19] The Administrative region of Attica will fund the stadium with € 20,000,000.[20] The sum left will be funded by Dikefalos A.E, a company that was founded for the construction of the stadium.[21][22]

Facilities

In the video presented on the 6th of November, the following facilities were exhibited:[23]

References

  1. ↑ Τσαμόπουλος, Μηνάς (8 August 2013). "ΑΕΚ: Εταιρεία-κολοσσός υποψήφια χορηγός για το όνομα του γηπέδου" [Colossus company canditate for the commercial name of the stadium] (in Greek). Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  2. ↑ Καραΐνδρος, Σταύρος (5 May 2009). "Εξι χρόνια από την κατεδάφιση του "Νίκος Γκούμας" (vids)" [Six years after the demolishion of "Nikos Goumas" (vids)] (in Greek). Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  3. ↑ "Our Old Home "Nikos Goumas"". aekfc.gr. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 Χορτάτος, Τόλης (5 May 2013). "Φάκελος: Γήπεδο ΑΕΚ" [File A.E.K Stadium] (in Greek). Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  5. ↑ "Ελληνες παίκτες και γήπεδο θέλει για την ΑΕΚ ο Μελισσανίδης" [Melissanidis wants Greek players and stadium for A.E.K] (in Greek). 10 July 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  6. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7vfqKp0zRM
  7. ↑ "Ιδού ο ναός της ΑΕΚ (photos+videos)" [Behold the temple of A.E.K (photos and videos)] (in Greek). 2 October 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  8. ↑ "Ο Τίγρης παρουσίασε το ΓΗΠΕΔΟ - Βυζαντινό κάστρο της ΑΕΚ!" [The Tiger has presented the Stadium - Byzantine castle of A.E.K] (in Greek). 29 August 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  9. ↑ "Η επίσημη παρουσίαση του νέου γηπέδου της ΑΕΚ" [The formal presentation of the stadium of A.E.K] (in Greek). 6 November 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  10. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilZDu9G67Q4
  11. ↑ "Προσφυγή στο ΣτΕ από τον Δήμο για το γήπεδο της ΑΕΚ" [The Municipality files a complaint at StE for the stadium of A.E.K] (in Greek). 3 January 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  12. ↑ ""Θέλουμε το γήπεδο της ΑΕΚ, αλλά όχι τον αποχαρακτηρισμό στρεμμάτων του άλσους" λέει ο δήμαρχος" ["We want the stadium of A.E.K but without any acres given from the Grove" sys the Mayor] (in Greek). 2 January 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  13. ↑ "ΑΕΚ: Ήμερα κρίσης για την "Αγια-Σοφιά"" [Critical day for "Agia Sophia"] (in Greek). 6 March 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  14. ↑ ""Πράσινο φως" από το ΣτΕ για το γήπεδο της ΑΕΚ" ["Green light" for A.E.K stadium from StE] (in Greek). 5 June 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  15. ↑ Γεωργίου, Άκης (22 July 2015). "Το γήπεδο της ΑΕΚ σε δημόσια διαβούλευση" [The stadium of A..E.K is at public consultation] (in Greek). Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  16. ↑ Τσίλας, Κώστας (9 September 2015). "Αίτημα για παράταση της δημόσιας διαβούλευσης για το γήπεδο της ΑΕΚ" [Application for extension of public consultation for A.E.K stadium] (in Greek). Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  17. ↑ "Παρατείνεται η δημόσια διαβούλευση για την "Αγιά Σοφιά"!". skai.gr (in Greek). The public consultation for Hagia Sofia is extended!. 18 September 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  18. ↑ Τριβιζάς, Μάριος (23 November 2015). "Ολοκληρώνεται η διαβούλευση, στο ΥΠΑΠΕΝ η ΑΕΚ" [Public consultation is completed, AEK heads to YPAEN]. sdna.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  19. ↑ "Όλο το σχέδιο χρηματοδότησης του γηπέδου της ΑΕΚ" [The whole plan of funding for A.E.K stadium] (in Greek). 7 March 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  20. ↑ "Περιφέρεια Αττικής: "20 εκ. ευρώ για το νέο γήπεδο της ΑΕΚ"" [Administrative Region of Attica: "20 million for A.E.K stadium"] (in Greek). 20 June 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  21. ↑ "Συστάθηκε η "Δικέφαλος 1924 Α.Ε."" ["Dikefalos 1924 A.E" is founded] (in Greek). 30 August 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  22. ↑ "Πάνω απο 40 εκατ. ευρώ έχει μαζέψει η "Δικέφαλος ΑΕ"" ["Dikefalos A.E" has gathered over 40 million euros] (in Greek). 28 October 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  23. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U59P-7wbVxI
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