Friday, September 11, 2009

Melbourne's New B-grade Stadium?

Architecturally, the new soccer & rugby stadium is worthy of praise. Aswell as this, it has some great environmental design features. However, what we're hearing now is that this stadium is not fit for Fifa world cup regulations, due to its capacity, and hence can't be used to host any world cup games. What a lack of foresight!


















According to an article on Fox sports, Fifa requires a minimum capacity of 40,000 to host games, and this stadiums maximum is 31,000. 9000 extra seats? How much does that cost? Surely, the boost in economic income from securing a world cup could have justified the cost? Now our bid seems a bit shaky.

Some may argue that Docklands is an alternative venue, but with so many other sports and events going on, there's already pressure on the Victorian government to build another stadium. AFL clubs want a better stadium deal, and with footy holding such a sway in town, does that mean another couple hundred million will be spent on a new stadium?

Do we really need another stadium Melbourne?

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