Will it or won’t it? This is the dilemma that has been posed for years regarding the construction of the new stadium in which the Kosovo National Football Team would hold matches, but other important local and international sporting events would also be organized and developed.
The construction of the new stadium was promised to the International Committee of the Mediterranean Games when Kosovo won the right to organize them in 2030, but although almost three years have passed since then, no concrete step has been taken, even in recent months, Hajrulla Çeku, now acting minister of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, stated that an assessment will be made if the stadium should be built or if this is not necessary at the moment.
But now it seems that the situation has changed. Finally, an international delegation stayed in Kosovo, which inspected the existing sports infrastructure in Kosovo, and recommendations on what should be built will come out of their visit.
After the meeting of this delegation with representatives from Kosovo of the Kosovo Olympic Committee, the Municipality of Pristina and the Ministry of Sports, it was said that the construction of the new stadium has no alternative and that the opening ceremony of the 2030 Mediterranean Games will take place in the new stadium.
The General Secretary of the Kosovo Olympic Committee, Besim Aliti, told KosovaPress that the construction of the stadium should not even be discussed as it will be built.
“When we applied for the Mediterranean Games, we promised something to the international community, we promised to make the national stadium. It does not mean that the ceremony cannot be held without the national stadium because you can also improvise, at the end of the day we in Sunny Hill have 30 thousand spectators but this is not the goal, the goal is that Kosovo needs a national stadium, we have a fantastic football national team which is surprising me every day for which tickets will already be sold 5 months in advance for the match with Switzerland as an example. Kosovo needs a national stadium which offers comfort, easy access, which offers citizens with their families to be in stadiums and to spend their weekends in stadiums not only for the Kosovo National Team but also for local clubs… Kosovo definitely needs a national stadium and this is not controversial at all and I think that the insinuations that we need or do not need a national stadium, we will persistently demand that Kosovo have a national stadium“, says Aliti.
Even the executive director at the Sport Agency of the MKRS, Fidan Shatri, confirmed that the construction of the new stadium is an integral part of the plan for “Prishtina 2030” and remains a national priority.
“The opening ceremony and closing ceremony will be held in the new stadium. Work has never stopped for the sports infrastructure in general and for the new stadium which will be ready for the Mediterranean Games ‘Prishtina 2030’, since at the same time at this stage where we are working as hard as possible on the design of the master plan for the Student Center and the Palace of Youth, these two institutions which will enter into the function of the Mediterranean Games ‘Prishtina 2030’ but definitely the opening and closing is also foreseen in the candidacy book that will be in the new stadium, something that is guaranteed and has not been withdrawn“, emphasizes Shatri.
On the other hand, the chief of staff of the mayor of the Municipality of Pristina, Vllaznim Osmani, was optimistic about the realization of the project, stressing that the institutions still have time to finalize the facility before the Mediterranean Games.
“I am very optimistic that the national stadium will be ready by then. Therefore, I think that the cooperation between different institutions such as local and central as well as other relevant actors that are part of the games should be on a good path. I think a lot of valuable time has been lost to achieve the goal of being ready for the Mediterranean Games but there is still time“, emphasized Osmani.
The representative of the RCAG company, which is responsible for drawing up the plan for the organization of the Mediterranean Games, Rob Clarke, emphasized that the issue of the stadium is one of the most sensitive and far-reaching points in the process of organizing the Games.
“I don’t have an answer for you today, but that’s certainly one of the topics we’ve been talking about. In the coming weeks and months, we’ll have to make recommendations to the organizing committee because this is a very important decision not only for the games, but also for the country, beyond the gamesClark emphasized.
In addition to the stadium, in order to organize the Mediterranean Games, many sports gyms, Olympic swimming pools and other sports facilities are expected to be built and renovated.KosovaPress
