Stadium “Rajko Mitic” Might Be Demolished as Soon as September! – New “Marakana” Closer to Autokomanda According to Plan

When it turns 60 on September 1, the famous Marakana stadium (since 2014, officially named Stadium “Rajko Mitic”), will most probably be demolished. From the current perspective, that is, due to the plans of Red Star Belgrade, according to which the construction of a new temple of football has been prepared for a long time now, that is the fate that awaits it.

Numerous projects have been considered and analyzed for years, and the director general, Zvezdan Terzic, talked about the best solution two months ago, as a guest of the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade.

– We would like to dislocate the new stadium a bit, about 300-400 meters to the north, to bring it closer to Autokomanda, due to the infrastructure, the hubs and to avoid traffic jams. We are witnesses to the fact that all the clubs that have built stadiums have increased the number of sold seasonal tickets three or four times, and with that the source of income, which is fixed. One example of this is AEK from Athens, a club that is smaller than Red Star Belgrade by all parameters, which has made a jump from 6,000 to 22,000. They have an annual income of EUR 16 million from ticket sales alone. We are planning, doing projects, preparing a financial close – Terzic pointed out.

The new Marakana, in addition to being moved, will also have a lower capacity than the current one.

– Track and field stadiums are no longer built anywhere in the world. Following an analysis done with a German company, a different solution was found. They told us: “Don’t do it, don’t waste money, it doesn’t have a sliver of a chance of being sustainable.” The new stadium will have a maximum capacity of 42,000 seats. The projection is that it will cost us EUR 100 to 120. If we built in on the current ground, we would have to demolish Marakana – said Terzic.

It has been estimated that the construction would take three to four years, in which period Zvezda would most probably play matches outside of Belgrade.

FK Crvena zvezda Beograd

Ekonomski fakultet Beograd

Red Star Belgrade

AEK

Faculty of Economics Belgrade

Zvezdan Terzic

Marakana

Rajko Mitic stadium

Autokomanda

Athens

construction of Red Star Belgrade stadium