On February 4th, Christian Estrosi will announce his complete project for the construction of the grand stadium in Nice. He has promised its construction within two and a half years at the latest. He has asked Gilbert Stellardo to lead a working group for fifteen days to propose a project. “A politician decides and cuts through based on the reflections of those who know,” Christian Estrosi justifies. The UMP candidate for the mayor of Nice, however, revealed the basics on Thursday afternoon at the headquarters of OGC Nice. It will have to meet the UEFA specifications for stadiums capable of hosting matches of the European Nations Football Championship in 2016. “Yesterday, the daily L’Equipe published the list of candidate cities without Nice. Bernard Laporte, Secretary of State for Sports, has added Nice since last night on my intervention.” Being chosen as a host city means assurance of state participation in stadium construction financing but also prioritizes Nice in other major projects like the High-Speed Train Line.
A brief historical reminder to explain Christian Estrosi’s desire to host the European Nations Championship: in 1990, then a deputy for sports, he resigned following the departure of the mayor when he had secured a project for a Grand Stadium to host the 1998 Football World Cup. Three weeks after his departure, the “Estrosi project” was abandoned. “At the time, I could not imagine that 18 years later I would find myself again at the OGC Nice headquarters to present a new stadium project.”
The exact location is not decided. The perimeter is. The project will materialize in the OIN of Plaine du Var. Christian Estrosi refutes the renovation of Stade du Ray: “It would require playing in Monaco or Cannes for two and a half years and I do not want this. Neither does the club.” In the OIN of Plaine du Var, access roads and a multimodal hub will be built. It will be near the Airport, and a TGV station is planned for this area. The capacity will vary between 25,000 and 40,000. Everything will depend on the UEFA specifications. Christian Estrosi does not rule out any possibilities for financing (entirely by the city, public/private partnership, emphyteutic lease). He wishes the stadium to be versatile for hosting other cultural, sports, or economic events.
Additional question: which hat did Christian Estrosi wear to add the capital of the French Riviera to the list of host cities and to get OGC Nice working? UMP candidate? Future mayor? President of the General Council? Ministerial colleague of Bernard Laporte? Maurice Cohen, President of OGC Nice, does not question and is pleased that the Secretary of State works on his project in collaboration with the club: “So far, we had not been involved in the two projects that had materialized.”
In summary: the “grand Estrosi stadium” will be built in Plaine du Var, will accommodate other events and matches of the European Nations Football Championship, and will have a capacity between 25,000 and 40,000 spectators. It will be delivered at the latest in two and a half years. The details will be revealed on February 4th. Last details: the municipal elections will take place on March 9 and 16.
