We will not give the stadium. Prague 3 rejects the efforts of Viktoria Zizkov, but offers a lease for the crown
The management of Prague 3 did not accept the offer of the owner of the second-league football club Viktoria Žižkov to buy the Žižkov stadium.
In the counter-proposal, he was offered a new ten-year lease for a crown and an investment in the stadium in the amount of 25 million crowns. With reference to today’s decision by Prague 3 councilors, Lucie Bukovanská, a spokeswoman for the city district, said so. According to Mayor Jiří Ptáček (TOP 09), the town hall is open for further negotiations, for example on cooperation on a project to build a new stadium.
The new owner of the club, Martin Louda, approached the city district with an offer to buy the stadium at an estimated price, stating that he would undertake to preserve the stadium and invest significantly in it.
However, he was in a hurry to sell it and wanted to finish it by June, because according to the FAČR the stadium does not meet the conditions for holding second league matches. “In such a short time horizon and in these parameters, we perceive the sale of the stadium as unfeasible,” Ptáček said today.
The town hall proposes that the city district together with the municipality invest 25 million crowns in the stadium to be suitable for the FACR. With the new ten-year contract, the club would also save 12 million a year on rent, the mayor added.
In addition, the club would be the sole tenant and administrator, so it could enter into further subleases and the proceeds would go to it.
According to the mayor, the town hall wants to guarantee that the land will continue to be used for sports purposes and will not be possible to use, for example, for development. According to him, in the past, the town hall received a number of offers from development companies that were interested in buying the stadium and the land under it.
According to Ptáček, Louda also mentioned the possibility of building a new stadium, which the town hall does not oppose. According to him, in such a case, a suitable form of cooperation would be a long-term lease of land for up to 99 years, or a joint venture in which the town hall would invest the land.
Ptáček previously stated that in order for the stadium to belong to the association’s garden, it is necessary to invest about 50 million crowns in it. He added that the city district has invested 23 million in it since 2016.
Louda has been the owner of Viktoria Zizkov since January. The city district had problems with the previous owners, and even sued the club over the unpaid rent. According to the mayor, the new owner paid all debts to the city district.