Dinamo Zagreb president addresses fan backlash over new Maksimir project
Dinamo Zagreb president Zvonimir Boban has reacted on the club’s official website following the controversy surrounding the new Maksimir stadium project, which was presented.
A large number of fans are not impressed by the design of the future stadium, with particular criticism directed at certain architectural solutions and the impression that the new home of the Blues does not have enough distinctive Dinamo identity, CE Report quotes HINA.
On Sunday, the Bad Blue Boys supporters’ group also spoke out, expressing their disagreement with the design.
Following the criticism, Zvonimir Boban issued a statement on Dinamo’s official website, beginning by noting that Dinamo fans have hoped for decades that a new blue home, a new Maksimir, would be built.
After a lengthy process in which the state and city authorities managed to resolve property and legal issues, allocate substantial funds and establish an international expert jury, the City of Zagreb and the Zagreb Society of Architects launched the administrative process for an international public competition for the new city stadium Maksimir.
By a unanimous decision, the winning entry among 88 submissions from around the world was the design by Milan-based studio VG13 Architects. According to Boban, the professional jury rated it the best in every respect — urban planning, architecture, and historical identity. He added that, with a sense of responsibility and a belief that he was acting in the best interests of the club’s future, he voted, like all other jury members, for the winning design.
“I remain deeply convinced of that, but that is only one Dinamo opinion, and it is irrelevant which position it comes from. What is indisputable is that the vast majority of you, Dinamo fans, believe that this was not a good decision or the right solution for our club. You hold that view with the same hopes and faith in Dinamo’s best future as I do, no less and no more.
As I am just one drop in a blue sea, I, like everyone else within the Club, have no right not to fight for your ideas to be heard and respected and to do everything possible to ensure that they are actually realized. I believe that the investors, the City of Zagreb and the Government of the Republic of Croatia, together with the evaluation jury, will find the best possible way to make these ideas a reality,” Boban said in his statement.
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