Panathinaikos F.C. New Stadium

(Redirected from Votanikos Arena)

Panathinaikos New Stadium (also known as Votanikos Stadium) is a football stadium with an additional multi-use sports complex in Athens, Greece, that will host all departments of the Panathinaikos sports club set for completion in 2026. The complex will be located in the historic Votanikos neighborhood, west of Athens. The entire project includes the football stadium (seating 39,000), a volleyball, handball and basketball stadium (seating 3,100), swimming pool (seating 500), and gymnastics facilities.

Panathinaikos F.C. New Stadium
Rendering of the proposed stadium
Map
Full nameNew Panathinaikos Stadium
LocationVotanikos, Athens, Greece
Coordinates37°58′59″N 23°41′44″E / 37.98306°N 23.69556°E / 37.98306; 23.69556
Public transitAthens Metro Athens Metro Line 3 Eleonas metro station
OwnerMunicipality of Athens
OperatorPanathinaikos A.O./Panathinaikos F.C.
Capacity40,000 Football Stadium
3,100 Volleyball, Handball and Basketball Stadium
500 Swimming Pool
Construction
Broke ground6 April 2023
OpenedJuly 2026
Construction cost125.000.000 €
ArchitectA&S ARCHITECTS
Tenants
Panathinaikos F.C.
Panathinaikos A.O.

The Votanikos neighborhood currently houses mostly vacant, dilapidated storage and industrial facilities.

The football stadium was to be ready for the 100 years of the club in 2008, with the rest of the complex completed by 2011. This construction was the idea of popular former president of Panathinaikos Thanasis Giannakopoulos.

By October 2013, and due to the club's and the country's financial troubles, the construction of the Votanikos Arena had stopped and consequently the plans for the demolition of the Leoforos Alexandras Stadium were cancelled.

In 2022, mayor of Athens Kostas Bakogiannis announced that the project is going to be implemented and its construction will last 3 years. The most significant part of the agreement between Panathinaikos and the Municipality of Athens was that the team had to offer Leoforos Alexandras Stadium in exchange of its new stadium. After the construction of the arenas, Panathinaikos will be the owner of the entire Votanikos Sport Complex for 99 years. The new football, basketball, volleyball arenas and other facilities will be ready at the start of 2026.[1][citation needed]. The construction works started on the 6th of April 2023.[2]

References

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  1. ^ season «Αν δεν γίνει και τώρα ο Βοτανικός, δεν θα γίνει ποτέ» (vid)
  2. ^ Newsroom, Ypodomes com (2023-04-06). "Νέο Γήπεδο Παναθηναϊκού: έπιασαν δουλειά οι μπουλντόζες στο Βοτανικό – Ξεκίνησαν οι πρόδρομες εργασίες". Ypodomes.com (in Greek). Retrieved 2023-04-08. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)