On Wednesday, 4th December 2019, at the premises of Centar Sarajevo Municipality, Mayor Nedžad Ajnadžić and the General Secretary of the Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Adnan Džemidžić signed an agreement on the reconstruction of the Asim Ferhatović Hase Stadium, in order to improve the stadium infrastructure.
Namely, in accordance with the UEFA requirements and instructions, it is necessary to install in the stadium equipment for electronic access control at the entrances, servers for print and ticket control, and to perform the installation of mechanical turnstiles and counting of tickets and visitors at all entrances to the stadium.
By the decision of the Executive Board, the Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina provided EUR 100,000 from the UEFA Nations League Fund for the said purpose, while the Municipality of Centar provided BAM 200,000 with the revised budget for 2019.
Mayor Ajnadžić once again emphasized the commitment of the Municipality of Centar to bring the Asim Ferhatović Hase Olympic Stadium as soon as possible to a state of full functionality that meets the high standards of the World and European Football Association:
“We have made many attempts to implement the stadium modernization project with other levels of authorities, but unfortunately we were left alone. In the previous period, the Municipality of Centar Sarajevo provided significant funds for the modernization of the stadium. In the past two years, about 2.2 million BAM have been invested in the reconstruction of the stadium infrastructure, of which the Ministry of Culture and Sport of Sarajevo Canton allocated BAM 500,000. These funds were spent on the establishment of a central room for the management of the security system, the strengthen of floodlighting, the installation of a new scoreboard, the installation of new seats in the VIP box, the reconstruction of the official entrance, the installation of new substitution benches… A desire of the Municipality of Centar is to make a new solution for the Koševo Stadium, but for this kind of investment, international funds and investors ready for this kind of investment are also required. That is why we have initiated the process of amending the Zetra Regulatory Plan with an emphasis on the need to modernize both the stadium and the entire sports complex on this site. At a session held in November, the Municipal Council adopted the Draft Decision on Adoption of Amendments to the RP Zetra – Sport and Recreation Zone with the accompanying draft decision on the implementation of the plan, whose adoption opens up the planning space for future investments in the field of sports and recreation. After the amendments to RP Zetra, conditions will be created for the announcement of an international qualification bid for the selection of the most favourable partner for modernization both the Koševo Stadium and the entire Koševo sports complex. I would like to thank the Football Federation for starting to work together to meet the high standards of the World and European Football Association as soon as possible”, explained Ajnadžić, adding that he would propose the allocation of BAM 500,000 in the 2020 budget and rebalancing another BAM 500,000 for modernization of the Stadium in anticipation that other levels of authorities (Federation of B&H, Sarajevo Canton, City of Sarajevo), with the active participation of the Football Federation of B&H and FK Sarajevo, will provide adequate funds in their budgets for the coming year, in order to start, already in January 2020, with the procedure of public procurement for the selection of the best contractor for all types of works at the Koševo Stadium.
Adnan Džemidžić emphasized that the Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina would continue to make great efforts in the future and carefully approach the topic of stadia modernization:
“Our common intention is to increase the number of stadia where matches of all stages and categories could be played. In the future, we will strive to invest the resources, which we withdraw from UEFA funds, in the quality. It is difficult to meet all the needs, but it is important to go, because where there is good will, everything is possible. The Koševo Stadium is the largest stadium, but we must show that it can meet all requirements with quality. After the signing of this agreement, the procedure for selecting the most suitable contractor will be carried out by the Municipality of Centar, and the Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina will delegate its member to the Selection Commission”, Džemidžić added.
