Friday, October 29, 2021 at 17:30

Feyenoord is currently unable to say ‘yes’ to a new stadium, reports RTV Rijnmond. The financing for Feyenoord City, as the project is called, should be completed before the end of this calendar year, but this seems to be getting further and further out of sight. Construction costs have risen sharply and Feyenoord’s financial situation offers no room to close the gap in the budget.

At the end of 2020, the Rotterdammers announced that they needed another year to ensure both the income for Feyenoord City and to conclude a contract for the budgeted construction costs. However, negotiations with candidate construction companies BAM and Besix are still going smoothly, as the budgeted amount to build the stadium far exceeds the 441 million that Feyenoord can absorb with the current financing. This increase is largely due to rising steel, timber and concrete prices. Modifications to the stadium to fall below the amount of 441 million euros would detract too much from the quality or business case of the stadium.

RTV Rijnmond lists two options for now. The first option is to pull the plug on the project, which will lead to the bankruptcy of Stadion Feijenoord. Feyenoord must then take over the stadium, after which a permanent solution such as renovation can be considered. It is also possible to wait until prices on the building materials market normalize, but according to experts this can take one or two years and Feyenoord does not have the money to wait.

Nor should one count on an extra financial injection from the municipality (besides the sixty million euros that was paid for the land on which the new stadium is to be built and the 40 million euros in shares that the municipality bought in the project). The Rotterdam city council previously indicated that it would not put ‘a cent extra’ in the new stadium.

Toon van Bodegom, chairman of the supervisory board of Feyenoord, indicated earlier this week in a press conference surrounding the imminent departure of director Mark Koevermans that more will be known ‘in the very short term’ about the progress of Feyenoord City. RTV Rijnmond expects that in any case no green light can be given for financing and that it can be announced that the new stadium will be built.