Contrary to the mayor's expectations, Vigo has still not been announced as the host of the 2030 World Cup following Malaga's withdrawal. Despite this, the city authorities are putting all their eggs in one basket and are beginning work on the reconstruction of the main grandstand. The conflict between the city and the federation is escalating.

One renovation follows another

16,000 seats, 5 meters from the pitch and one level. This is what the new main stand of Estadio Abanca Balaídos will look like. Although work on the stadium work is underway to rebuild the Gol End, which will not be completed until early 2027, Mayor Abel Caballero assures that new reconstruction is no longer just a project, we have begun the administrative process for the reconstruction.

Today, the main stand of the Celta Vigo stadium has 5,500 seats and is, paradoxically, the smallest. Its reconstruction will increase the stadium's capacity to 43,000 seats, thanks to which Balaidos will meet FIFA's requirements for the 2030 World Cup arenas. A World Cup for which… Vigo is not on the list of hosts.

Following Malaga's withdrawal, Spain has 10 host cities left. Coruña is at risk, as it still has no project or funding for the Riazor expansion.

Vigo goes all in

Just a month ago, the mayor assured us that after Malaga's withdrawal, the city of olive trees was 100% on the list of hosts. And although there is still no official decision, it seems that the president of the Spanish federation, Rafael Louzán, would prefer Valencia to take its place. Nevertheless, Caballero seems to be going all in and choosing the tactic of fait accompli: he has already presented a reconstruction plan and proposed that the costs of the reform be shared equally between the city, the regional authorities, and the Spanish government.

The mayor assured that the relationship with Celta - which recently said that the ideal capacity would be around 31,000 seats - is very good and announced that he would send the project, which he sees as the World Cup guarantee to Louzán "so that he would never again say that Balaidos has 27,000 seats." Their difficult relationship dates back to when Louzán, a former member of the opposition party to Caballero's group, was the government representative in Galicia and later president of the regional federation. The controversial exclusion of Vigo from the list of World Cup hosts only made their relations worse.

Now, the mayor has once again demanded that his opponent include Vigo on the list of World Cup hosts. Hurry, Mr. Louzán, or this city will roll right over you, warned Caballero.

© Miguel Ciołczyk Garcia | The new main stand will be the only single-level stand at Balaídos. The photo shows what it looks like today.