Nea Smyrni Stadium - The New Stadium

The New Stadium

Panionios G.S.S. President Constantinos Tsakiris has announced the willingness of the club to replace the old stadium with a brand new 29.000 m² athletic centre cost of which will be approximately 60 million euro. The new athletic centre will include a modern football stadium of 12.000 seats, a basketball and a volleyball arena, an aquatic complex (including a water polo pool of 33m., 1 swimming pool of 25m., pools for children learning), a track and field training center as well as facilities for boxing, rhythmic gymnastics, wrestling, etc. Additionally, it will include a building complex of 6.500 m² for complementary amenities of the football stadium like vestry, administration offices, restaurants, VIP accommodations, and press facilities. The extra facilities other than the football stadium will be used by Panionios G.S.S., the multi-sport club under which Panionios G.S.S. belongs.

The new stadium project has triggered a minor controversy as small number of petitioners alongside side with members of the council of the Municipality of Nea Smyrni are objecting in its construction and are threatening to take legal action unless a new formula will be agreed between all parties regarding certain aspects of the project. The main argument of the opposition group is that the new athletic center will have increased commercial spaces (measured in square meters) in comparison to the existing one, thus increasing traffic and congestion in the area. The club responds that this extra space for commercial use in the project's architectural plans mainly consist of parking spaces and administration offices for Panionios G.S.S. and Panionios G.S.S. which is a common land use for the area and not department stores as the opposition believes. Additionally, the club legally argues that according to the current urban planning status of the existing stadium there is space for extra commercial uses that are not in operation/lease (have been in the past but failed to stay open).

The debate has temporarily paused, with the club pointing that without the commercial spaces in place the new project cannot generate enough income to repay its construction cost and has promised to come back with an alternative proposal that will satisfy all parties. Moreover, the Municipality of Nea Smyrni which has collectively taken a positive stance towards the new athletic center is expected to facilitate the debate and assist its resolution.