National stadium to be constructed in Moldova

Chisinau, 11 June /MOLDPRES/ - A National Stadium of the category 4 of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), with a capacity of 20,000-25,000 places, which is to host far-reaching sports events, will be constructed in Moldova. An investment of about 85 million euros is needed for this, according to a pre-feasibility study. The works might last about five years. The authorities analyze five possible locations for the object’s building and the variant which accumulated most points is a ground nearby the Chisinau Arena, in the neighbourhood of the Stauceni settlement, Chisinau municipality.      

Education and Research Minister Dan Perciun said that the foundation of a stadium was put today, which will be a symbol of national unity. ‘’Today, we make the first step towards the construction of a republican football stadium, which in the long run will become a symbol of our passion for this noble sport. On the future national arena, we will host important matches both at the national level and at the international one and also here, we plan to provide also the headquarters of the national sports federations,’’ Dan Perciun noted. He specified that, in 2023, Moldovan sportspeople had got the largest number of medals in history.      

Infrastructure and Regional Development Minister Andrei Spinu said that the government would build the stadium and would provide the national sport with an arena due to host the most important matches. ‘’The stadium will become the symbol of our solidarity, courage and success. According to the pre-feasibility study, we will construct a stadium of the category 4 UEFA, i.e. a stadium at the highest standards, which is to be host of national and international games. Matches of the most important international football competitions will be able to be held on the stadium,’’ Andrei Spinu said.    

Based on the study, five potential grounds were identified: 1. In Stauceni, nearby the Chisinau Arena; 2. Dacia blvd., Airport; 3. Road of Bacioi; 4. Codru, Ialoveni, Hancesti highway; 5. The sports complex of the Moldovan Technical University (UTM), Students’ Street. The analysis of the ground took into account more factors, including the dimension, legal regime, way of procurement, urbanism documents, accessibility and utilities available. Following the pre-feasibility study, the ground from Stauceni, nearby the Chisinau Arena, got the largest number of points and was highlighted as the fittest one for construction.     

„This thing does not mean a final decision. The feasibility study will provide more clarity and a final answer,’’ Andrei Spinu specified.

The minister also said that the national stadium would have a capacity of 20,000-25,000 places and an area at the ground of 18,000 square metres. The stadium will include the area meant for players, i.e. the playfield itself, which will be constructed according to the international standards; the stands for spectators will include more subzones, including area for officials, sponsors and special guests. At the same time, the area of sports facilities, separate wardrobe rooms for teams will be created; training rooms will be built, with area of heating, recovery, medical rooms. The area of security and access is also planned, with systems of control of the access for spectators and staff.   

In continuation, the Infrastructure and Regional Development Ministry (MIDR) is to initiate the procedure of elaboration of the feasibility study, which is to give final answers to all questions dealing with the construction of the stadium. Based on the feasibility study, the government will start the procedure of designing and construction of the stadium. ‘’We will analyze two procedures of contracting services of designing and construction: either a separate procedure for each of these stages or a single procedure according to more standards,’’ Andrei Spinu said.    

The head of the Moldovan Football Federation, Leonid Oleinicenco, said the Moldovan football was in a process of continuous evolution and ‘’we want to maintain these tendencies.’’ ‘’The achievements of our teams at the recent competitions show us that we need to pay increased attention to these clubs, including on the segment of infrastructure. We are the only European country which does not have a model football arena. The arena is an important object of social infrastructure. The football arena opens new opportunities, in order to hold in Chisinau great football events and will transform Moldova into a destination for the people fond of football. Our estimations show that, during one year, we might bring to Moldova about 20,000 sports tourists, who will buy services of hotel, nourishment, transport of at least 6 million euros. These are figures from a pretty modest scenario,’’ Oleinicenco said.     

The announcement on the construction of the National Stadium last week was made by Prime Minister Dorin Recean, who visited the Centre of Training Moldova’s National Teams.