National Stadium (Warsaw)

The National Stadium ( _pl. Stadion Narodowy) is a planned football (soccer) stadium, which will be built in Warsaw, Poland, on the site of the present-day dilapidated stadium Stadion Dziesięciolecia, whose grounds are currently used for the largest bazaar in Europe.

The new stadium will have a seating capacity of 55,000. Its construction is to begin in 2009 and finish in 2011. The national stadium is due to host the opening match (a group match), remaining 2 group matches, a quarterfinal, and a semifinal of the UEFA Euro 2012 hosted jointly by Poland and Ukraine.

The National Stadium will not be the new home of Legia Warsaw football club, whose own stadium, Polish Army Stadium, is scheduled to undergo a renovation and expansion to 33,000 seats while being kept in use, albeit it is expected that Legia Warsaw may choose to use the National Stadium for its most prestigious matches.

Along with the stadium the plans include constructing a general purpose indoor sports arena with places for 15,000 spectators, an olympic swimming pool for 4,000 spectators and an aquatic park, hotel and congress center, catering and service facilities. The construction will be accompanied by a complete refurbishment of the nearby Warsaw Stadium railway station and the opening of a subway station and a segment of the second line of the Warsaw Metro linking the area with the city center. As the grounds are the property of government the investment will most likely be financed by it, rather than the city of Warsaw.

External links

* [http://www2.e2012.org/en/7_1110.html#Warsaw Preliminary description of the stadium in the Polish-Ukrainian facilities proposal for Euro 2012] en icon pl icon
* [http://stadiony.net/project.php?p=71 Alternative architectural rendering of the new stadium as a 60,000-seater, including surroundings] pl icon