Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 13
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
Azerbaijan will not build additional football stadiums for the European Football Championship- 2020, Azerbaijani Youth and Sports Minister Azad Rahimov told Trend Feb. 13.
"I do not think that we will have to do this," he said. "At the moment, the construction of the 68,000-seat Olympic Stadium is under completion. But the Tofig Bahramov stadium meets the highest standards. Of course, proceeding from certain requirements, some stadiums can be reconstructed. I am sure that before the competition, FIFA and UEFA representatives will visit Azerbaijan and review the preparatory process. If necessary, the additional work can be carried out. However, the construction of a new stadium for the European Championship is unreal."
He said that around 93-95 percent of the work on Baku's Olympic Stadium has been completed.
"I would like to point out that the Baku Olympic Stadium is the only sports facility among those built for the European Games, where test competitions will not be held," the minister said.
UEFA European Championship-2020 will be held for the first time in several countries.
This tournament format is stipulated by the 60th anniversary of the first championship of the Old World. According to the UEFA statement made on September 19, around 13 cities - Glasgow (Scotland), London (England), Dublin (Ireland), Brussels (Belgium), Bilbao (Spain), Munich (Germany), Budapest (Hungary), Bucharest (Romania), Baku (Azerbaijan), Copenhagen (Denmark), Rome (Italy), Amsterdam (Netherlands) and St. Petersburg (Russia) will host the championship.
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Edited by CN