April 4 – Eden Arena, the shared home ground of leading Czech club Slavia Prague, looks set to be bought by the club’s owners CEFC China Energy Company.
The Chinese company will buy 70% of Eden Arena for a reported €31.1 million and will spend a further €49.6 million rebuilding the stadium, a project that will take five years to complete. The Beijing Municipal & Bridge Corporation construction company is said to be the builder that will lead the project.
The current capacity of the stadium is 21,000 but under the new proposals this would increase to 30,000 and the arena would become the designated national stadium – it currently hosts some national team games.
In 2013 Eden Arena hosted the UEFA Super Cup between Chelsea and Bayern Munich, and while the official home of Slavia Prague, is currently in the final year of a five-year deal to host Bohemians 1905 home matches in the Czech league. It has also hosted home matches for FC Viktoria Plzeň in the Champions League.
Slavia Prague is one the Czech Republic’s most successful cups having won 16 league titles. Founded in 1892 the club more recently had ownership from ENIC – owners of Tottenham Hotspur in England’s Premier League – before the Chinese took control and saving the club from financial crisis.
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