Hungary to build new national stadium, Olympic park

BUDAPEST (AFP) –

Kenya’s Geofrey Barusei leads the men’s 3000 metre event during the Gyulai Istvan Memorial Athletic Grand Prix in Ferenc Puskas Stadium in Budapest on August 20, 2012. Hungary’s government unveiled plans Tuesday to build a new 65,000-seat national stadium and Olympic sports park in Budapest costing up to 300 million euros ($390 million).

Hungary’s government unveiled plans Tuesday to build a new 65,000-seat national stadium and Olympic sports park in Budapest costing up to 300 million euros ($390 million).

“The new national stadium will comply with the highest standards of (European football’s governing body) UEFA,” Laszlo Vigh, a state secretary responsible for sport, told a press conference.

It will be built within the walls of the existing Ferenc Puskas stadium — named after Hungary’s most famous footballer who led the national team to Olympic gold in 1952.

“The ghost of Puskas’s team can now appear in a twenty-first century setting,” said government spokesman Andras Giro-Szasz.

Construction of a new athletics track, Olympic swimming pool, and velodrome next to the national stadium are also part of the project. Construction is due to start in 2014 with the opening slated for 2017.