Confusion over seat capacity at new Limassol stadium

Amid reports of lower spectator capacity at the new Limassol football stadium than initially announced, the town’s football clubs will meet President Nicos Anastasiades on Monday to communicate their final decision.

The issue was propelled to the front pages by news reports that seats at the stadium would be a few thousands fewer than the initial plan.

The latest information is that capacity will be around 11,000.

On Tuesday, there were reports from the Cyprus Sports Organisation (KOA) that “miscalculations in the original plan” could reduce the stadium capacity, originally set at 13,300 seats, by thousands of spectators.

Later during the day, KOA chairman Andreas Michaelides, however, said that no decision has yet been made on the final number of seats.

He also blamed different specifications issued by the European football governing body Uefa in 2010 and 2018 as having caused the confusion.

The final decision on the matter, which is expected to be communicated to Anastasiades on Monday, will likely be taken by the three Limassol football clubs, Ael, Apollon and Aris.

According to reports, all three will prioritise spectators’ comfort and therefore opt for a significant reduction in the stadium’s capacity.

A meeting on the issue was held on Wednesday. It was attended by the president of Apollon Nikos Kirzis, the vice-president of Ael Andreas Yapas and the president of Aris Lysandros Lysandrou, as well as KOA’s Andreas Michaelides and representatives of the public works department.

Statements made after the meeting to the media indicated that Uefa’s first directives called for a distance of 40 centimetres between each seat, whereas a later instruction set the distance at 42.5 centimetres, therefore significantly decreasing the stadium’s capacity.

In line with the recent trend regarding football stadiums’ safety in Europe, the three Limassol clubs are reportedly set to review their original plans and increase the distance between seats, as suggested by Uefa.

The stadium had previously been estimated to have been finished by summer 2021 at a cost of €28m, a sizable increase compared to the original €20m allocated for the project.

Late last month, it was announced that the construction of the road around the new football stadium in Kolossi will start in February with a total budget of €9.1m.