Favoured Letna (Portal of Prague)

Letna seems to have the biggest chance to be selected as the location for the National Football Stadium so it seems that, after all, the project to transform the Sparta stadium will in the end be implemented. This is true despite the fact that the initial maximalistic conceptions have been somehow fading away and also despite the fact that the latest statements of the top football officials do not mention the National Football stadium at all, they only talk about the reconstruction and modernization of Sparta.

The biggest supporter of the National Football Stadium in Letna is the deputy chair of the Czech-Moravian Football Federation Vlastimil Kostal. Many claim that the reason for this is that this high official and the manager of the football representation used to be a successful head of Sparta football club.

Why Letna and why not Stodulky for example? Some time ago, Vladimir Kostal gave the following reasons:" We are only working on Letna, Prague 7 now. The CMFS Executive Board did not select Stodulky, because there was no land at our disposal. Some exchanges between private persons and Prague City Hall were considered, however, the city plan would have to be changed which would take five years. Another thing is that the stadium in Stodulky would be only used by the representation, which would mean operating losses, whereas in Letna, thanks to Sparta, it would be profitable.“

The words of the deputy chair are supported by a CMFS Executive Board statement which says, among others: „ The latest version of our investment plan, based on a recommendation of Prague City Hall, focuses on an area, which, as opposed to the previous ones, is in compliance with the city plan and the property relations regarding the land are clear. The version of the construction of NFS on the grounds of AC Sparta Prague in Prague 7 can, with its urbanistic aspects, follow up the forthcoming traffic and technical changes in the infrastructure, i.e. mainly the mouth of the tunnel under Stromovka. It is important to say that at the moment, as well as with all the previous cases that appeared during the previous ten years, also the version in Prague 7 – Letna is only an intention of the construction of the national Football Stadium. It is, however, the programme and the responsibility of the Czech-Moravian Football Federation Executive Board to find an adequate variant so that the National Football Stadium can be build by the year 2011.“