Part of Nea Philadelphia Park to make way for AEK stadium

A section of Nea Philadelphia Park in northeastern Athens is to be sacrificed so that AEK can build a new soccer ground, according to legislation tabled in Parliament on Friday.

The draft law proposes that AEK be allowed to use 6,000 square meters of the park, which covers a total area of 480,000 square meters, to construct the stadium. The new structure will mostly be built on the site of AEK’s former ground, which the club abandoned in 2003. This area covers 26,600 square meters of public land, which had been given to AEK in 1934.

The article submitted to the House is part of broader legislation that forms the Athens-Attica Regulatory Plan. Article 81 also grants the soccer club another 2,500 square meters of public land.

Furthermore, the legislation allows authorities in other parts of Greece to also give up parkland for sporting purposes.