November 20th, 2004

A debate over a proposed new stadium for PAOK FC at TOUMBA has been the top sports issue in the city of Thessaloniki in the last few days. The club chairman, Giannis Goumenos, stated that he intended to demolish the existing stadium and construct a new one in the coming months:

"Based on our plans, the new Toumba Stadium will be ready by August 2006. We already have many financing proposals, which we now consider. The total cost of the project will be about €75 million. The new stadium will have a capacity of 31 to 33,000 - all seats being covered. We are ready to proceed. There are no problems with building permissions. We have our own piece of land on which the current stadium stands. We aim to start demolition by April or May 2005. PAOK will use Kaftanzoglio Stadium while our new home is being built. I have discussed with Thanassis Katsaris, the chairman of PAOK Amateur Club who is the legitimate owner of Toumba. He agrees with our plan."

However, one day after this statement, Mr Katsaris expressed a different opinion:

"Everyone should be aware that the decision on Toumba's future lies with the Amateur Club, which expresses the wide family of PAOK. It is not the job of any chairman to decide. Not the chairman of the amateur club and certainly not the chairman of the professional football club. This is the property of PAOK we are talking about. No one can simply make a decision and announce it to the fans."

Related article:
PAOK boss wants to build a new stadium (8/1/02)