Eurostadium

Eurostadium was a proposed stadium in Grimbergen, Belgium, just north of Brussels. It would have had a capacity of 62,613.^[1] In June 2015, the building deadline was set for 2019.^[2] It would have hosted matches for UEFA Euro 2020,^[3] and would have become the home ground of the national football team of Belgium.^[4]

Eurostadium

Full name	Eurostadium
Location	Grimbergen, Belgium
Capacity	62,613
Construction
Built	Cancelled in January 2018
Tenants
Belgium national football team

The initial plans intended for it to be the home ground of RSC Anderlecht as well, but they withdrew from the project in an early stage.^[2] In contrast to the current stadium at the Heysel Plateau, the King Baudouin Stadium, it would no longer contain an athletics track.^[5]

History

In March 2015, the City of Brussels council chose the Ghelamco/BAM Consortium as best candidate to finance, build and exploit the stadium.^[6] During the years that followed, however, the project was plagued by numerous political delays.^[7][8] Anderlecht eventually pulled out of the project in February 2017.^[9]

Because of the delays, concerns rose that the stadium would not be built in time for Euro 2020, or even at all.^[10] On 7 December 2017, the UEFA Executive Committee decided, due to these delays and the uncertainty that the stadium would be completed in time, to remove Brussels as a host city for Euro 2020. The games scheduled to be held there were instead awarded to Wembley Stadium in London, which meant that London would now host a total of seven matches (this increased to eight during the actual tournament, following the removal of Dublin as a host due to sanitary issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic).^{[11][12][13][14]}

On 30 January 2018, Flemish Minister Joke Schauvliege rejected the application from Ghelamco for an environmental permit, and as a result, the project was cancelled.^[15]

See also

• List of football stadiums in Belgium
• Belgium national football team home stadium

References

1. "Eurostadium design submitted in UEFA bid". ARUP. 25 April 2014. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
2. mvd; lej (20 June 2015). "Anderlecht speelt vanaf 2019 in nieuw stadion". De Standaard (in Dutch).
3. "UEFA EURO 2020 hosts to be revealed in Geneva". UEFA.com. 14 August 2014.
4. Sels, Geert (25 May 2013). "Koning Boudewijnstadion wordt afgebroken". De Standaard (in Dutch).
5. Verschueren, Rogier (2 December 2013). "Nationaal stadion zonder atletiekpiste op Heizel". De Standaard (in Dutch).
6. "Stad Brussel: "Ghelamco/BAM krijgt voorkeur voor bouw Eurostadion"" (in Dutch). Sporza. 19 March 2015. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
7. "'Doodsteek dreigt voor Eurostadion'". De Tijd (in Dutch). 29 April 2016.
8. "En nóg een mokerslag voor Eurostadion: verkeerde rechter en opnieuw extra vertraging" (in Dutch). Voetbalkrant.com. 6 May 2016.
9. "Anderlecht stapt uit Eurostadion-project". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 17 February 2017.
10. Jef Poppelmonde (28 March 2017). "'Definitieve doodsteek voor het Eurostadion'". De Standaard (in Dutch).
11. "Euro 2020: Wembley to host seven matches after Brussels loses right to host games". BBC Sport. 7 December 2017.
12. "EURO 2020 to open in Rome, more London games, venues paired". UEFA.com. UEFA. 2017-12-07. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
13. "Wembley to host four extra Euro 2020 games as Brussels lose right to host fixtures". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
14. "Wembley handed four more Euro 2020 matches as Wales misses out". the Guardian. 2017-12-07. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
15. Bradshaw, Lisa (30 January 2018). "No environmental permit for Eurostadium". Flanders Today. Archived from the original on 18 June 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2019.