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.
 Rendering of the proposed stadium | |
 | |
| Full name | New Panathinaikos Stadium |
|---|---|
| Location | Votanikos, Athens, Greece |
| Coordinates | 37°58′59″N 23°41′44″E / 37.98306°N 23.69556°E |
| Public transit |   Eleonas metro station |
| Owner | Municipality of Athens |
| Operator | Panathinaikos A.O./Panathinaikos F.C. |
| Capacity | 40,000 Football Stadium 3,100 Volleyball, Handball and Basketball Stadium 500 Swimming Pool |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 6 April 2023 |
| Opened | July 2026 |
| Construction cost | 125.000.000 € |
| Architect | A&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
edit- ^ season «Αν δεν γίνει και τώρα ο Βοτανικός, δεν θα γίνει ποτέ» (vid)
- ^ 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)
 | This article about sports in Greece is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article about a building or structure in Athens is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |