December 26 – A stadium in Melbourne that has been at the centre of a row between Australia’s bid to host the World Cup and rival football codes is to be opened next year with a week-long festival of sport featuring matches in football, rugby league and rugby union.
The stadium, now in the late stages of construction, is expected to be home to the Melbourne Storm rugby league club and Melbourne Rebels Super 15 rugby franchise.
It will also house the Melbourne Victory and the city’s new A-League club, provisionally named Melbourne Heart.
The Victorian Government – which fully funded the $268 million (£148 million) stadium – is keen for all three codes to christen the stadium so fans of each feel a sense of pride and ownership over it.
The spectacular stadium will feature a changeable lighting display – similar to those put on by Beijing’s Water Cube swimming pool and the Allianz Arena World Cup venue in Munich.
The stadium was orginally planned to have a capacity of just 20,000, the plans were expanded to 25,000 and then 31,000 after pressure from football fans and the Victory, who feared the club’s new home would not be big enough for average crowds well above 20,000.
The plans also called for the stadium’s foundations to be strengthened so that capacity could be expanded to 55,000 in the event of a successfuly World Cup bid in 2018 or 2022.
But Football Federation Australia’s (FFA) plans to include the ground in Australia’s bid were scuppered when it was revealed that the distinctive bubble roof meant enlarging the venue would cost around $150 million (£83 million) and – more importantly – the process of expanding and then reconverting the venue to its original size would put it out of action for as many as five years.
A rugby league international, pitting Australia against New Zealand and traditionally played in Sydney around Anzac Day, has already been announced for the stadium on May 7 and negotiations are already underway with Scottish club Celtic for them to travel to Melbourne to play Victory.
Sir Rod Eddington, the chairman of the Victorian Major Events Corporation, said: ’The opening next year is something we all look forward to.
“We would love to see, not just world-class rugby league but world-class rugby union and world-class soccer matches to celebrate that opening. That would be ideal. We already have some rugby league offerings but we want to see opportunities with the other codes.
“The rectangular stadium is a terrific addition to Victoria’s suite of world-class venues.
“It provides a custom-made facility for rugby league, rugby union and soccer.
“The mega events in those sports will continue on occasion to be played at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) or Etihad – simply because of their size – but for many contests the rectangular stadium will be the right size.”
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