A few weeks ago, Minister of Sport and Tourism Sławomir Nitras announced that the government would not finance the construction of a new stadium for Ruch Chorzów. He argued that the facility is intended for professional sports, and the state’s primary responsibility is to support children and youth.

"Not just plan B, but also C and D"

In an interview with Dziennik Zachodni, Chorzów’s mayor, Szymon Michałek, who had pledged to build a new stadium for Ruch Chorzów during his recent election campaign, spoke on the matter.

The Silesian Stadium is like a hotel for Ruch. Even if it were five-star, it would never be the Blue's own home, Michałek began. I will seek a meeting with Minister of Sport Sławomir Nitras, who mentioned the lack of funding during a press conference in Sosnowiec, but did not inform me directly. I don't want to discuss this with him through journalists.

At the same time, the mayor assured that the city has not just plan B, but also C and D. This includes issuing bonds to finance the construction or establishing a public-private partnership. If you also need a contingency plan, check the offer of neosurf casinos online and enjoy the game.

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Time for consultations

If we don't start this investment during this term of local government, the residents of Chorzów will consider me unreliable. [...] We watched the construction of the stadium in Katowice. We have a planned meeting with the president of the Zagłębie Sports Park (which includes the Zagłębie Sosnowiec stadium, ed.), to discuss the stages of investment they have already completed. We want to prepare for it as best as possible. We are talking with architects and managers of large construction projects, assured the mayor, also announcing the commissioning of an expert analysis to determine how large a stadium can fit on Cicha Street without changing its position relative to DTŚ, and what could be built if it were rotated 90 degrees along the road.

Szymon Michałek also stated that, in his opinion, the new Ruch stadium should have between 21,000 and 24,000 seats and be a sports, cultural, and entertainment center for the city.

Official letter to the minister

Ruch will play matches there once every two weeks, but this should be a stadium that is alive throughout the week. That’s why I issued a statement to Minister Nitras, signed by several cultural figures, and we will strive to have it signed by as many people from the cultural and sports communities as possible, said Michałek.

In addition, the mayor recently held a series of meetings aimed at forming a team of experts to support Chorzów in the fight for the stadium. I hope we will not focus on politics, on who is from which party, he said firmly.

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Fans with a clear message

Ruch Chorzów fans are also relentless in their fight for a new stadium. On the day of the Euro 2024 final, they appeared in front of the Olympiastadion in Berlin with a large banner reading Prime Minister Tusk, a new stadium for Chorzów. Among the dozens of Blue fans was Sławomir Kordela, a Chorzów councilor and one of Mayor Szymon Michałek's closest associates.

The action in Berlin is not the first international initiative by Ruch fans. They had previously appeared with banners in front of stadiums in Munich and Madrid, on Times Square in New York, and in San Francisco.