Further Delays in Preparations for Euro 2012

It still remains unsure where the new stadium actually will actually be built. Last week Mayor of Warsaw Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz objected to the idea of constructing the stadium near the site of the now-destroyed Tenth Anniversary Stadium on the bank of the Vistula River very close to the center of the city.

This site had been accepted by the Ministry of Sports and Tourism. Unlike stadiums in the other five cities, the Warsaw project is managed by state, not local, authorities.

As a new government will be formed early in November following parliamentary elections won by the opposition Civic Platform (PO), construction may be changed. Gronkiewicz-Waltz, a prominent member of the PO, said that the proposed stadium site in one of the most expensive parts of the city could be sold for a great profit.

The stadium could then be built on the outskirts of Warsaw, she said, but she did not point to any specific area as her favorite. She underlined that her suggestions are just ideas to be considered by the new government. Its head will almost certainly be PO leader Donald Tusk, a dedicated football fan from the coastal city of Gdansk.

The outgoing government of Jaroslaw Kaczynski has already requested stadium designs from about 20 architectural firms. A selection is to be announced by the end of November. Michal Borowski of the Sports Ministry says any further delays in the project could cause the stadium’s completion to be set back until the middle of 2011.

If new problems develop, the Union of European Football Associations may even move the Warsaw matches to some other city.

The Tenth Anniversary Stadium was built in 1955, 10 years after the beginning of Communist rule in Poland. It held up to 100,000 spectators during sports and political events.

In the 80s the stadium deteriorated into ruin and it became one of the biggest markets in Europe, a center of illegal software, arms and alcohol traffic.

The stadium was closed at the end of September.

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