Finally up to a new stadium?

The political talks about the new national stadium in Brussels are still ongoing, but all involved parties are close to signing a declaration of intent. It looks like a new stadium will be constructed by 2018.


Though several details about the design and looks still have to be clarified. The most important obstacle is the Memorial Van Damme. The athletics event is one of the largest in the world and is being held in the current national stadium on the Heysel site. But the new stadium, though multifunctional, will not have the necessary facilities to host athletics events. A solution has to be found before the final decision will be made.

Anderlecht manager Herman Van Holsbeeck commented on the situation: "We have been involved in the process and we are very interested in moving to this new and larger stadium. It will have 60.000 seats, but it can easily be enlarged to 70.000 or reduced to 40.000 seats. To make it economically profitable, it will house a lot more than just a football field. Anderlecht will finance a part of the construction. The total cost is estimated on 300 million euro."

If things go as planned and an agreement will be found, the construction can start in 2016. Two years later, the Mauves will play in the national stadium. Van Holsbeeck remains careful: "We still continue to work on our plan to enlarge our current stadium, at least until a final decision is being made about this new football temple."