Friday, June 28, 2024, 18:50 | Updated 8:15 p.m.
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Pelé’s cry when he won his first World Cup at the age of 17 in 1958, Tardelli’s cry with Italy’s victory over Germany in Spain 82, The Hand of God against England or Diego’s famous work of art against Belgium in Mexico 86. Zidane’s headbutt to Materazzi that led to the Frenchman’s retirement. Iniesta’s volley in Johannesburg… The World Cup has left memorable postcards throughout history and Donostia, and in particular the Reale Arena, will reveal photographs for posterity in the summer of 2030 when it hosts the World Cup from Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Can you imagine a Germany-Argentina quarterfinal in the capital of Gipuzkoa? Dream because dreams come true. Sources close to the Joint Commission established between the CSD and the RFEF assume to DV that the field in the capital of the territory will host the World Cup because all that remains is to make it official in the near future.
The Reale Arena and Donostia have been doing their homework for months. Real Sociedad and all the actors involved have been completing the necessary steps to make the Reale Arena one of the eleven venues that Spain will have in six summers’ time, after yesterday passing the final cut by the RFEF and the CSD. FIFA will now have to analyse all the applications between now and 31 July, the final date for the Reale Arena to be the venue, but both Real Sociedad and the City Council are convinced that the World Cup will land in the capital of Guipuzcoa in six years’ time. The remodelled football ground joins Santiago Bernabéu, Camp Nou, Cívitas Metropolitano, San Mamés, Stage Front Stadium, La Cartuja, Riazor, Estadio Gran Canaria, La Romareda and La Rosaleda as temples in which the best teams in the world will compete.
The decision was made yesterday in Agadir (Morocco) after a meeting between all the Federations. Although there are eleven venues that will host matches, the CSD asked on Friday that this be increased to twelve in order to cover the requests of all the candidates, since Balaídos (Vigo) was not in the running. Mestalla, having not sent all the necessary documentation on time, will not be the venue unless there is a major surprise. The Valencian stadium, pending remodelling, will not be there on time. FIFA is not giving in.
Capacity expansion
With six years left for all kinds of preparations, the Reale Arena will only need a few touch-ups to be in perfect condition. FIFA makes it an essential requirement to exceed 40,000 seats, a premise that Real will meet this August with the expansion of capacity that will go from the current 39,500 seats to the around 41,000 that the Reale Arena will definitively have. The placement of new seats is already underway, as well as the remodeling of the press area located in the highest part of the stands. In the rest of the facilities, the Gipuzkoan temple is a world-class field, something unthinkable a decade ago when Anoeta had athletics tracks and football could be seen from 100 meters away.
The last check by FIFA, which was delighted with the final review, took place at the end of last May when a FIFA delegation and representatives of the three federations organizing the 2030 tournament visited the Reale Arena. Vice-president Ángel Oyarzun was in charge of acting as a guide, while Jokin Aperribay accompanied the Real Sociedad expedition in the friendly against Tokyo Verdy played in Japan.
Likewise, both the San Sebastián City Council and the Guipuzcoan Football Federation would be prepared to host matches of such magnitude. The sports entity claims to have the capacity to host the teams that play their matches in Donostia, providing top-level sports facilities so that the teams can train. Zubieta and all its fields are clearly the jewel in the crown, although there are also fields and facilities in the territory for several teams to settle in Gipuzkoa at the same time. They are not the only ones. Eibar, which has in its roadmap to build its sports city in Mallabia, would have completed its works by 2030. The facilities do not worry the affected actors, while the city itself is prepared to be the venue since it has been complying with all the requirements presented by FIFA step by step. Nearby airports -not only Hondarribia, Biarritz is also a stone’s throw away-, first-class mobility services such as the bus fleet and the metro stop, also remodeled by then, sufficient hotel capacity to accommodate mass movements of fans participants… A series of challenges and obligations for which Donostia is properly equipped. The first step has been taken, the Reale Arena will host the 2030 World Cup in the absence of official status. Now all that is missing is final confirmation from FIFA.
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2024-06-28 18:15:08
#Reale #Arena #close #World #Cup
