New stadium will cost Brussels taxpayers, says magazine

The new national football stadium will cost Brussels taxpayers tens or even hundreds of millions of euros, according to Belgian magazine Médor. The financing of the stadium has raised a lot of questions in recent weeks as the costs begin to add up.

The Brussels authorities had vowed that the construction of the stadium by real estate developer Ghelamco would not cost a cent of taxpayer money. According to Médor, however, the city so far has spent €1 million in legal fees, and will pay another €4 million annually over the next 30 years for the operation of the stadium. The city and the Brussels-Capital Region are also responsible for half of the cost (€80 million) for the construction of the stadium's underground parking lot.

Brussels' alderman for sport Alain Courtois confirms the figures for the rental of the stadium, but notes that the price is not much higher than the cost of maintaining the current King Baudouin Stadium.