Spain venue rejig for FIFA showpiece

Article posted by Coliseum, September 30^th, 2022

Image: Estadio El Molinón, Diario El Comercio - Gijón, CC BY-SA 4.0

To discuss the issue of El Molinón Stadium in Gijón, Spain, as one of the venues for the 2030 FIFA World Cup™, the Board of Spokespersons held an online meeting recently and the same was chaired by the Mayor of Gijón, Ana González.

‘La Vozde Asturias’ stated that the meeting discussed the issue of renovating the El Molinón Stadium as well as the facility’s capacity expansion. The topic of joint candidacy for the 2030 spectacle by Spain and Portugal was also discussed.

The 30,000-capacity El Molinón Stadium, officially Estadio Municipal El Molinón-Enrique Castro ‘Quini’, is an association football stadium in Gijón, Asturias, Spain. The stadium is the home ground of Real Sporting de Gijón.

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Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting, is a Spanish football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on July 1st, 1905, it plays in the Segunda División (LaLiga 2).

The 2030 FIFA World Cup™ will be the 24^th FIFA World Cup™, a quadrennial international football tournament contested by the men’s national teams of the member- associations of FIFA. The event will mark the centennial of the first World Cup.

‘La Vozde Asturias’ further stated that the proposals put forward by the Gijon Town Hall as regards redecorating the above venue and making the facility entirely available for the World Cup Organizing Committee was approved in the meeting. The repurposing price tag has been pegged at circa 40 million euros.

The arena expansion is one of the criteria laid down by the Royal Spanish Football Federation because one of FIFA’s benchmarks is that venues hosting World Cup must have a capacity to hold minimum of 40,000 spectators.

The Royal Spanish Football Federation is the governing body of football in Spain. It is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid, Spain. It was founded on October 14^th, 1909 as the Federación Española de Clubs de Football, and officially founded on September 29^th, 1913.

The City Council has assured that in the event of Spain hosting the FIFA spectacle, between 6,000 to 10,000 square meters of outdoor space of the said stadium will be made available which will be earmarked as the media zone. Moreover, one year in advance, at least 200 square meters of space will also be made available to set up the offices.

Up to 13 proposals were cleared by the Board of Spokespersons. It was also agreed that renewable energy will be in use in the event of the above facility hosting the FIFA extravaganza.

The meeting also agreed that at least two sub-venues within a distance of 40 km and two more venues within a distance of 100 km – as per FIFA guidelines – will be set up and will be at the disposal of the World Cup Organizing Committee.

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