Bernabeu set for retractable roof

The club’s president is determined to go through with an overhaul of the stadium but insists the price of season tickets will not go up as a result

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has announced plans for a €400 million renovation of the Santiago Bernabeu, that will include the installation of a fully-retractable roof.

The 85,000 seater stadium is one of the world’s most iconic arenas but Perez is determined to push through with an overhaul of facilities, while insisting that the move will not result in an increase in season ticket prices.

He told AS: “Our agreement with the Madrid Council was subject to an appeal and a judge put in place a temporary stay on proceedings, but that’s now been lifted by a higher court so we can now go back to the architects for revised plans. It’s going to be a spectacular stadium, fully covered and air conditioned.”

Perez also revealed that los Blancos would use a sizeable loan – in the region of €300-400m  – to fund the extravagant plans, which he hopes will see the Bernabeu bring in €80m a year in revenue.

The 66-year-old added that he had strongly opposed an offer to take the club out of the ownership of supporters and convert los Blancos into a public limited company.

“On my last trip to the US I was offered the opportunity of floating 10% of the club on the stock exchange but I rejected it. The other clubs should be grateful that we aren’t a limited liability company, because we’d have a lot more money and there’d be an even bigger gap between us and them.”

However, Madrid revealed that the planned construction of a Real Madrid themed island in the United Arab Emirates will now not go ahead following a lack of funding from investors.

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