Arena Națională

Arena Națională

UEFA Elite Stadium (Category 4)
Location	37 Basarabia Blvd., Sector 2, Bucharest, Romania
Coordinates	44°26′13.95″N 26°09′09.03″E / 44.4372083°N 26.1525083°ECoordinates: 44°26′13.95″N 26°09′09.03″E / 44.4372083°N 26.1525083°E
Owner	Municipality of Bucharest
Executive suites	42
Capacity	55,634 (football)[1]
Record attendance	53,329 (Romania-Netherlands, 1–4, 16 October 2012)
Field size	105 x 68m[2]
Surface	Grass
Construction
Broke ground	20 February 2008
Opened	6 September 2011
Closed	November 2015
Construction cost	€ 234,5 million[3]
Tenants
Romania national football team Dinamo București Steaua București
Website
Official website

Arena Națională (Romanian pronunciation: [aˈrenə nat͡sioˈnalə], National Arena) is the national stadium of Romania, in the Lia Manoliu National Sports Complex in Bucharest. Opened in 2011, it replaced the former National Stadium. It was built for the Romania national football team, hosting its games as well as the Romanian Cup Final and the Romanian Supercup.

The 2012 UEFA Europa League Final was held at the new stadium. This was the first final of a major European football club competition hosted by Romania.^[4] UEFA has announced that the UEFA Euro 2020 Finals would be held in multiple cities all over Europe in a pan-European tournament format to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the tournament. On September 19, 2014 Bucharest has won the UEFA Euro 2020 bids and it was decided that the National Arena will host four matches (as part of the 'Standard Package'), consisting of three group stage matches + one round of 16/quarter-final match.

Construction

The old stadium was demolished between December 18, 2007 and February 20, 2008, although a symbolic removal of seats took place on November 21, 2007, after Romania defeated Albania 6-1 in a qualifying match for Euro 2008.

The construction phase generated some controversy over costs and delays, with Bucharest mayor Sorin Oprescu claiming that the works were 20 weeks behind schedule in May 2009.^[5] On October 8, 2009, it was decided that the stadium should also include a retractable roof worth €20,000,000.^[6]

Construction was temporarily halted in December 2009 due to unfavorable weather conditions.^[7]

Facilities

The venue holds 55,611 people. 3,600 VIP seats are available, with another 126 seats allotted for the press (with a possible expansion to 548 seats). The stadium includes some 360 restrooms and a retractable roof, which can be opened or closed in 15 minutes. It is also endowed with a floodlight system and 2100 parking spaces.^[8] The roof design is very similar to that of the National Stadium in Warsaw. These two stadiums also have a similar capacity and age (Warsaw has slightly more seats, and is slightly newer)

A panoramic view of the stadium

Usage

The National Stadium is a Category 4 venue and as such, it hosted the UEFA Europa League 2011–12 final, as announced by UEFA at Nyon on January 29, 2009.^[9] It was required to host at least two major events beginning in July 2011, one with an attendance of 10,000 and the second with an attendance of at least 40,000.^[8]

History

Romania-France opening match

2012 UEFA Europa League Final

The official inauguration was initially scheduled for August 10, 2011, and was to feature a football match between Romania and Argentina.^[10]

However, on 26 July, Argentina officially cancelled the friendly match after their coach was sacked, so the stadium was inaugurated on September 6, 2011, with a UEFA Euro 2012 Group D qualifier match between Romania and France.^[11] The game ended 0–0 in front of a crowd of 49,137.

Notable high audience matches

The highest audience for a football game was achieved at the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match between Romania and Netherlands, hosted on 16 October 2012, which brought 53,329 people to the stadium.^[11][12]

The 2nd highest audience was achieved at the UEFA Europa League Final hosted on 9 May 2012. The game between the two Spanish teams, Atlético Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, brought 52,347 people to the stadium.^[13]

Concerts

Concerts at Arena Națională
Date	Artist	Tour	Attendance
31 August 2012	Red Hot Chili Peppers	I'm with You World Tour	47,000
15 May 2013	Depeche Mode	Delta Machine Tour	34,729

Transport

The stadium is served by public transport with buses, trolleybuses, trams and the subway system.

Transport means	Stadium entrance	Routes
Transport in Bucharest	Strada Pierre de Coubertin / Peluza I NORD	Trolleybuses routes → 86, 90 – 100 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 104 – 300 metre walk to stadium entrance Trams routes → 46, 55 – 500 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 101, 335, N102 – 550 metre walk to stadium entrance Trams routes → 14, 36 – 600 metre walk to stadium entrance Trolleybuses routes → 69, 85 – 1400 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 143, 682 – 1400 metre walk to stadium entrance
	Bulevardul Basarabia / Peluza II SUD	Trams routes → 40, 56 – 250 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → N109 – 250 metre walk to stadium entrance Trams routes → 36 – 750 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 101, 102, 335 – 750 metre walk to stadium entrance Trolleybuses routes → 70, 79, 92 – 800 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → N104 – 800 metre walk to stadium entrance Metro routes → M1: Piața Muncii – 1400 metre walk to stadium entrance Trams routes → 1 – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 135, 253, 311, 330 – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance Metro routes → M1: Costin Georgian – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 104 – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance
	Strada Maior Ion Coravu / Tribuna I VEST	Trams routes → 40, 56 – 500 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → N109 – 500 metre walk to stadium entrance Trolleybuses routes → 86, 90 – 600 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 104 – 600 metre walk to stadium entrance Trams routes → 1 – 1100 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 135, 311, 330 – 1100 metre walk to stadium entrance Metro routes → M1: Piața Muncii – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance Trolleybuses routes → 70, 79, 92 – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance
	Strada Socului / Tribuna II EST	Trams routes → 36 – 500 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 101, 335 – 500 metre walk to stadium entrance Trams routes → 14, 46, 55 – 800 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 104 – 850 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 102, N109 – 950 metre walk to stadium entrance Trams routes → 40, 56 – 950 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → 253 – 1400 metre walk to stadium entrance Bus routes → N104 – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance Trolleybuses routes → 70, 79, 92 – 1500 metre walk to stadium entrance

See also

• Stadionul Național (1953)
• List of football stadiums in Romania

References

1. Am cucerit Europa şi-n tribune! » Steaua - Chelsea a fost urmărit de cei mai mulţi suporteri dintre meciurile din optimile Europa League
2. Finalizarea Arenei Naționale
3. Național Arena costa 119 milioane de euro și a ajuns la 234!
4. "Naţional Arena - primul stadion din România care va găzdui o finală de cupă europeană" (in Romanian). Mediafax. 29 January 2009.
5. "Oprescu atacă: "Lucrările la stadionul 'Național' sunt în întârziere cu 20 de săptămâni"" (in Romanian). Prosport. 22 May 2009.
6. "Stadionul Național va avea acoperiș retractabil de 20 milioane euro" (in Romanian). Gazeta Sporturilor. 14 October 2009.
7. "Oprescu: "Stadionul Național va fi gata în decembrie 2010!"" (in Romanian).
8. "TRIMIŞI AI FORULUI DE LA NYON AU FOST ACUM DOUĂ SĂPTĂMÎNI LA BUCUREŞTI » Ultimatum UEFA" (in Romanian). Gazeta Sporturilor. 14 January 2010.
9. "2012 final: National Stadium, Bucharest". UEFA.
10. "De acum e sigur, România - Argentina se va juca pe 11 august 2011" (in Romanian). GSP TV. 26 October 2010.
11. "Mircea Sandu: "Facem inaugurarea stadionului Național cu Franța"" (in Romanian). Evenimentul Zilei. 30 July 2011.
12. "Romania vs Netherlands - 16 octombrie 2012 - Soccerway". Ro.soccerway.com. 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
13. Atlético Madrid-Athletic Bilbao

External links

• Arena Națională Official website