Bulgaria's Plovdiv Wants to Build New 'National Stadium'

The southern city of Plovdiv has come up with an initiative to host a new national stadium of Bulgaria, which could be realized instead of the expensive construction of a new stadium in Sofia.

Last week Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov announced a plan to construct a new "National Stadium" for international matches to be located in the outskirts of the capital Sofia, near the Sofia International Airport. This project is said to rectify the present situation in which Sofia gets congested any time there is big match or event on the Vassil Levski National Stadium located right in the downtown.

Georgi Tityukov, a Deputy Mayor of Plovdiv, however, has come up with an alternative. In a letter to Borisov and Sports Minister Svilen Neykov he has suggested that the government invest BGN 20 M in the completion of the "Plovdiv Stadium" in order to turn into a "National Stadium" for important international matches.

Tityukov claims that the construction of a second national stadium in Sofia for 40 000 people discussed recently will cost a lot more – about BGN 120-150 M.

At the same time, the Plovdiv Stadium will have a capacity to fit 53 000 people – which will be sufficient to host a final of the Champions League (a capacity of 50 000 is required).

In the past, the Hristo Botev Stadium in Plovdiv was used an alternative to the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia. Then, for a brief period, a newer stadium in the Black Sea city of Burgas was also used for international matches of the Bulgarian national football team.