Serbia, a Football Nation? – 2023 Retrospective, Investments in SPORTS

As many as five of the ten most read investments on our portal in 2023 in the field of sports were also on our 2022 list. These are the construction of the national football stadium in Surcin, the new Red Star Belgrade stadium, the sports complexes on Zlatibor and in Valjevo and the National Volleyball Training Center in New Belgrade.

Our portal’s readers also found the announcements of the stadiums in Kragujevac, Vranje and Novi Sad interesting.

We present the 10 investments in sports which drew the most attention from our readers in the year behind us.

1. National Football Stadium

The National Stadium of Serbia, which was also in focus in 2022, when it placed second on our list, has now moved up to the top. The stadium, which is to be built in Surcin, was designed by the Spanish studio Fenwick Iribarren, with the idea of it being the first stadium with the “garden” concept in the world. It is planned to be round, have a capacity of 52,000 spectators and have a façade on four rings, on which green “garden” areas will be set up.

The contractors for the job worth EUR 14 million have also been selected, and these are two Hungarian and two Serbian companies.

When the Ministry of Financed opened the tender for the management of the project, expert supervision and the running of the construction of the National Football Stadium in February, it was emphasized that the job was worth EUR 1.4 billion, or around EUR 12 million.

As announced earlier, the estimates are that the construction of the national stadium will be completed by 2026.

2. Cika Daca Stadium Kragujevac

Kragujevac is also to get a stadium – the urban project, which was prepared in 2020 by PRO-ING from Novi Sad and which was commissioned by the City of Kragujevac, envisages for the new stadium to be built in line with the UEFA rules for stadium infrastructure for sports facilities of Category 4, with a capacity of up to 19,950 spectators.

In July, the Ministry of Public Investments published the tender for the services of the preparation of the construction plan, the works and the services of the preparation of the as-built design for the Cika Daca stadium in Kragujevac. The estimated value of the works is EUR 77.6 million without the VAT.

However, in December, the ministry halted the tender, because all the submitted bids exceeded the estimated value of the public procurement and the available funds.

3. New Red Star Belgrade Stadium

If the media predictions from the beginning of last year, had come true, the famous Marakana would have been demolished back in September. The director general, Zvezdan Terzic, talked about the plans for the new stadium and said that, if the stadium were built on the existing ground, Marakana would have to be demolished. Terzic announced that the new stadium would have a maximum capacity of 42,000 seats, and the projection is that it would cost EUR 100 to 120 million. It has been estimated that the construction would take three to four years, in which period Zvezda would most probably play matches outside of Belgrade.

The story about the demolition of Marakana was current in 2022 as well, when the reconstruction of the Rajko Mitic stadium was the most read news on our portal about investments in sports infrastructure.

4. National Boxing Center New Belgrade

The Boxing Association of Serbia plans to build the National Boxing Training Center complex in New Belgrade. The total area of the parcel on which the construction of the future boxing center is planned is 2 ha 17 a. The location is around 9 km away from the city center.

The complex will have two main facilities with a total area of 7,257 m2, and outdoor stands and an outdoor canopied ring are planned as well.

5. Karadjordje Stadium Novi Sad

This year, the Karadjordje Stadium is celebrating an anniversary – 100 years of being in the same location. Ahead of the jubilee, at the end of last year, DBA Architects announced that we were a step closer to the planned beginning of the reconstruction of the existing Karadjordje Stadium in Novi Sad. As they specified, the project is entering procedural activities for obtaining the building permit.

The reconstruction encompasses a whole new organization of the western stand with a media sector, which has been missing so far. Also, the forming of the club’s museum will connect the VIP part and the media sector. The whole new organization of the VIP part will allow, for the first time, for the forming premium sky boxes for corporate purpose, as well as two levels of central lodges.

We also looked into whether the construction of the new stadium, with a capacity of up to 17,500, announced several times, and even included in the planning documents of the City of Novi Sad, had been abandoned.

6. Football Stadium Vranje

In the location of the Yumco football stadium in Vranje, a new stadium with a capacity of 8,302 visitors is to be built, as envisaged in the urban project. The area covered by the urban project is 5.3 ha, and the local team at the stadium will be Dinamo Vranje (which has a stadium in another location.

The stadium is planned to meet the conditions proscribed by the UEFA Stadium Infrastructure Regulations for Category 4 facilities.

The construction of the football stadium in Vranje was first announced back in 2019, and the works were expected to begin at the end of that year.

7. Sports Complex Near Hotel Tornik on Zlatibor

On Zlatibor, behind Hotel Tornik, along the route of the panoramic Gold Gondola, the plan is to build a new sports complex, which will consist of 20 football fields with natural and artificial bases, with indoor and outdoor courts, with the accompanying infrastructure facilities.

As the president of the municipality of Cajetina, Milan Stamatovic, announced, the value of this investment should be slightly over EUR 20 million. The main part of those funds will be set aside from the budget of the municipality of Cajetina, and the plan is for the Government of Serbia and the competent ministry to cover part of the costs through their funds.

The sports complex on Zlatibor also placed on our last year’s list of investments in sports.

8. Sports Complex Radnicki Crveni Krst Belgrade

The reconstruction of the complex of the Sport Society Radnicki in Crveni Krst in Belgrade began in April last year with the demolition of the building in whose location the construction of a new facility with a hall with a capacity of 1,000 to 1,200 spectators, sports courts and exercise spaces, as well as offices for club management, training and seminar spaces, as well as a museum space, is planned.

The value of the works, according to the public procurement procedure which was carried out at the end of 2021, is RSD 2.4 billion.

9. National Volleyball Training Center in New Belgrade

In June last year, the foundation stone for the construction of the National Volleyball Training Center in New Belgrade, along Tosin Bunar Street, was laid down, and the deadline for the completion of the works is slightly under two years.

The National Volleyball Training Center will have an area of 20.3 thousand square meters, and the value of the project is EUR 22.4 million, the government announced.

The center will have three training rooms, two beach volleyball rooms, accommodation facilities for athletes, accompanying sports facilities and associated office space, i.e. a medical center, a gym, a sports clinic and two garages.

This center was also on our lost in 2022, when, to be fair, the works were estimated at a higher value – EUR 26.8 million.

10. Sports Complex Senjak Valjevo

Another representative from 2022, the Senjak sports complex in Valjevo, drew attention from our readers in 2023 as well. In the location in which the Sports and Recreation Complex Senjak is now, the plan is to build indoor pools, a football field and a shooting range.

The total area of the urban project is 5.47 ha, and the estimated investment value for the whole complex is around RSD 2 billion.

We presented the 10 investments which drew the most attention from our readers when it comes to sports. Make sure to take a look at the full list HERE.

We invite you to see which investments market the year 2023 in the fields of TRANSPORTATION, INDUSTRY, PUBLIC UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE AND ENERGY, REAL ESTATE, TOURISM, ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION and TRADE CENTERS.

Ministarstvo finansija Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo za javna ulaganja Republike Srbije

Grad Kragujevac

Bokserski savez Srbije

Pro-Ing doo Novi Sad

Sportsko društvo Radnički Voždovac (Beograd)

UEFA

Zvezdan Terzić

Milan Stamatović

National Football Stadium

Čika Dača stadium

Marakana

sports infrastructure

National Boxing Center

Rajko Mitić stadium

Karađorđe stadium

Vranje football stadium

sports complex Zlatibor

National Volleyball Training Center