Location Nuuk, Greenland Architect Bjarke Ingels Group | Capacity 2,000 | |
Similar Nuuk Stadium, Statue of Hans Egede, Godthåbhallen, Hans Egede Church, Nuuk Cathedral | ||
The New National Stadium (Greenland), nicknamed as Arktisk Stadion, is a proposed association football stadium which would replace Nuuk Stadium as the national stadium of Greenland. The stadium is proposed, in part, to allow Greenland to participate in FIFA and UEFA as the organizations' strict guidelines on stadiums are a barrier to admittance. The stadium is expected to seat several thousand spectators and be fully enclosed with heating. The stadium is expected to be completed by 2020.
History
When former FIFA president Sepp Blatter visited Greenland in 2010, he stated that there were only two factors preventing Greenland from becoming members of the organization: full independence and an acceptable venue. Blatter stated that the stadium would need to be covered and contain an artificial surface. At that time, the 3,000 seat stadium was expected to cost 83 million dk.
In May 2015 the Parliament of Greenland allocated one million dk. in its budget to create a project plan for the construction of a new national football stadium in Nuuk. The plan was due to be presented to parliament by autumn 2016. In June 2016, it was expected that the plan would be presented very soon.
The largest hurdle to the construction of the stadium is funding. Although the GBU and Danish DBU entered into an agreement in 2015 to grow football in Greenland and work towards FIFA and UEFA membership by 2020, the partnership does not provide funding for the creation of such a facility. General Secretary of the GBU Nike Lyberth-Berthelsen has stated that building the national stadium will provide financial resources for football in Greenland by enabling the organization to charge for tickets to matches, something that can not be done at the open-air and seatless Nuuk Stadium.