Warsaw: Legia opposes Legia stadium being called “Legia Stadium”

source: StadiumDB.com; author: michał

Warsaw: Legia opposes Legia stadium being called “Legia Stadium” A much unexpected twist in the case of name giving to the new venue in Warsaw. Just two days before new name being voted on, the club informed that its name was used without consultation.

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Today Warsaw councilors were supposed to vote on new name for Legia’s stadium, as it turned out several months ago that the ground is actually nameless since it has been transferred to the municipality by Polish Army back in 2002.

But the vote had to be postponed after Legia’s board filed an official document, arguing the name of the club was to be used by the municipality without club’s consent. Meanwhile the word Legia is a registered trademark and is thus protected against such moves.

Absurd is one way to call a situation in which the club opposes use of its name in establishing a name for its own ground. Legia’s new venue was built solely with public funding and putting the word ‘Legia’ in its new formal name was seen by Warsaw city hall as a way to honour the ground, based there since 1912.

The club argues that no-one approached its authorities to ask for permission, which was seen by major media as a sabotage to the vote. Legia argues it was all in good will, but facts are that the club knew the proposed name since February and decided to intervene only just before the vote, after 7 months.

Thus the formal name of “Marshal Józef Piłsudski Municipal Stadium of Sports Club Legia” is subject to further controversy and the ground remains without a name.

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