Author: World of Stadiums

On 11 November 2018, the Argentine side Boca Juniors played against their arch-rivals River Plate in the first leg of the final of the South American championship for football clubs. The match, which was played in front of a fanatical capacity crowd, ended in a 2-2 draw. The second leg of the final will take place in Europe. The Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, the home of the world famous Spanish football side Real Madrid, will host the first-ever final of the Copa Libertadores outside South America. The second leg was originally to be hosted by River Plate in Buenos Aires on 24 November 2018. However, due to safety concerns resulting from an attack on a team bus of the Boca Juniors, the second leg was moved outside of Argentina.

The construction of a new stadium in Townsville started in 2017. The North Queensland Cowboys will move to the venue when it will be ready. They are members of the National Rugby League. The North Queensland Cowboys are among the major rugby league clubs from Australia. The stadium, which was part of the 2022 FIFA World Cup bid of Australia, will have a capacity of 25,000. It is scheduled to open in 2020. The stadium will be among the largest sports venues by capacity in Queensland when it opens.

In 2016, FC Cincinnati drew an average home attendance of 17,000 in their first domestic league season. They played all 15 home games at the 33,000-capacity Nippert Stadium. FC Cincinnati became the first third level football club from the United States with a home attendance above 30,000. In 2018, it was announced that FC Cincinnati will become a Major League Soccer club. Within a few months, the construction of the new home of FC Cincinnati will begin. The stadium will have a capacity of 25,000 and it is planned to open in 2021. The estimated costs of the stadium are $212 million, with the majority of funding coming from FC Cincinnati and its ownership group.

The Italian football side Venezia FC have serious plans for a new stadium. Their current home is located in one of the least accessible parts of the city of Venice. If built, the new stadium would be located close to an airport, a highway and a railway station. The estimated costs of the venue would be €185 million and it would have a capacity of 18,000 when it opens. The detailed stadium design should be ready in 2019 and groundbreaking could be possible in 2021. Two years later, the stadium could be ready.

In 1970, Feyenoord became the first European football champions from the Netherlands. They have been tenants of Stadion Feijenoord, which is nicknamed De Kuip, since 1937. Feyenoord have plans to move to a new stadium, which has a proposed capacity of 63,000, within a few years. The project may be a risk more than a chance. According to a study by Tsjalle van der Burg, a sports economist, the relocation idea might not be as good as it may seem according to club estimates. High costs could threaten the existence of Feyenoord.

David Beckham, the English football legend who won top division titles with clubs in England, Spain, the United States and France, wants to start a Major League Soccer club in Miami. He received an option to own an expansion club at a discounted fee as part of the contract he signed with the top-flight football league of the United States when he joined the LA Galaxy in 2007. After four failed bids, Beckham will talk with the Miami city commission to present the latest plan for a football stadium in Miami. It is his fifth stadium attempt and the one furthest from the centre of Miami. David Beckham, who has a Major League Soccer club secured for years, has so far been unsuccessful in his effort to deliver a football stadium in Florida. The deal Beckham is proposing calls for the city to collect nearly $140 million in rent payments over 39 years. At present, it is not clear when the proposed football club from Miami could join the top division of the United States.

The future home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, one of the most popular sports clubs from the United Kingdom, is under construction. Thousands of installed seats already have to be removed. As it turns out, thousands of seats were manufactured with a flaw and need to be replaced. Tottenham Hotspur assure the operation will not delay the delivery of the venue, which is scheduled to open in September 2018. In the most recently finished Premier League season, Tottenham Hotspur played their home games at the world famous Wembley Stadium. They drew an average home attendance of 67,000 in 19 Premier League matches in that league season.

The Grand stade de Casablanca is a proposed title of a planned stadium in Casablanca. In 2013, Morocco hosted the first-ever FIFA Club World Cup matches in Africa. The world championship for football clubs was won by FC Bayern München from Germany after defeating Raja, the first Moroccan football club in a world championship final, 2-0. The FRMF, the governing body of football in Morocco, announced that it would submit a bid for the 2026 FIFA World Cup on 11 August 2017. It started competing with a joint bid from Canada, Mexico and the United States. The North American bid ultimately won the bidding contest.

The 2026 bid became Morocco’s fifth bid to host the FIFA World Cup. If it should have been successful, the proposed stadium in Casablanca should have hosted the final of the prestigious tournament. The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the first edition of the tournament with 48 teams. The 2022 FIFA World Cup will have 32 participants. The proposed venue has a planned capacity of 93,000. Raja Club Athletic and Wydad Athletic Club, two of the major sports clubs from Morocco, might host home games at the proposed stadium if it will be built.

In 2017, the construction of the Lusail Iconic Stadium started. When it is ready, it will be the largest sports venue by capacity in Qatar. The Lusail Iconic Stadium will have a capacity of 86,000 and it is planned to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup final at the stadium. The 2022 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to be played in Qatar. It will be the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup, the world championship for national football teams. The tournament is scheduled for November until December because of the extreme climate in the desert country. In 2015, federal prosecutors opened an investigation into corruption and money laundering related to the awarding of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the 2022 FIFA World Cup. It was announced that Qatar would possibly no longer be eligible to host the tournament if evidence of bribery was proven. Qatar also faced strong criticism due to the treatment of foreign workers involved in the construction of the stadiums.

Football club Estudiantes de La Plata from Argentina currently play at the Estadio Ciudad de La Plata. They won the Copa Libertadores, the South American championship for football clubs, in 1968 for the first time in their history. The Estadio Jorge Luis Hirschi, which opened in 1907, had been their home for numerous years. In 2005, the venue was closed down for league games because of new safety regulations. After the closure, the reconstruction works started. The projected opening date was delayed because of financial reasons. Estudiantes de la Plata have confirmed the ability to launch further work at their future home after they secured a loan.