The stadium of Aarhus is located at the end of a beautiful avenue with trees on each side of a small road in a picturesque and quiet neighborhood that marks the beginning of the Marselisborg forest.
Its hard to find a stadium in Europe where the surroundings match what Aarhus has to offer, and judging from the harmony of the place, it’s difficult to imagine the drama that has engulfed the process of launching a new stadium.
The current stadium was rebuilt and renovated between 1999 and 2001 with a series of drawbacks that haunted the spectator experience. The facilities for players and VIPs were outdated, the athletics track surrounding the pitch had a negative impact on the fan experience, while a partially covered bowl with open edges turned football matches into a very cold experience for the spectators.
For about a decade, there were plenty of discussions on how and where to reconstruct the stadium with football leaders, politicians and the general public struggling to find a consensus.
‘The Arena of the Forest’
But finally, towards the end of 2022, local club AGF, Aarhus municipality and investors presented plans for ‘The Arena of the Forest’, which would give Denmark a state-of-the-art 24,000 all-seater stadium that would boost the country’s portfolio and tournament hosting capacity.
The new stadium, which would have the same location as the old stadium, was to be designed by London-based architectural firm Zaha Hadid Architects, which has also designed the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympics and the Al Janoub Stadium for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The stadium was set to be completed at the beginning of 2026 at a price of around 750 million Danish kroner (approximately 100 million euros), and AGF would, until then, play all their home matches at a temporary stadium facility in Vejlby, one of the suburbs of the city.
Everyone was happy, AGF would finally have the luxury of playing their matches in a proper football stadium, which would provide the foundation for their Danish title aspirations, but it didn’t last long after the bulldozers moved in before the first problems began to appear.
In February 2024, the project’s engineering consultant said that the current stadium is basically built in a swamp, and therefore, the new stadium would rest on unstable ground. Measures could be taken to stabilise the foundation of the construction, but it would be time-consuming and would delay the project by at least six months. That was just the beginning of a series of problems which has haunted the project.
33 million euros in debt
When Mayor Jacob Bundsgaard took part in launching the project for the new stadium, he said that “there had been a tradition in Aarhus for always being able to stick to budget costs”.
Two years later, he mysteriously resigned one week before it became public knowledge that the project costs had suddenly risen by no less than 250 million Danish kroner (approximately 33 million euros)
When the original plans for the stadium were presented, the plan was that the municipal treasury would not suffer any financial setback due to the construction of the stadium itself.
A total of 650 million Danish kroner (87 million euros) was raised for the stadium construction, 500 million Danish kroner (67 million euros) came from sponsors Lind Invest and the Salling Fond, while AGF were willing to cover the remaining 150 million Danish kroner (20 million euros)
Therefore, Aarhus municipality allocated 'only' 250 million Danish kroner (33 million euros) to be spent on the surrounding facilities in the master plan for the project.
When it became known that the project was actually 250 million 'in debt', Aarhus municipality announced that the soft soil in the area under the stadium was to blame for the cost overrun. But that is far from the whole story as extraordinary quality supplies had run up the costs on building materials.
Especially the VIP area, in particular, which would be equipped with features that are not normally found in stadiums in Denmark. At the same time, it turns out that far more materials were needed than initially expected.
AGF can perhaps not afford to play in new stadium
After the disclosure of the rising budget costs, the city council have blamed the ex-mayor for being kept in the dark for too long about the rising budget costs.
Now, as it turns out that the project is actually 250 million Danish kroner 'in debt', all the smiles, the champagne toasts and the celebration of a unique football stadium to come are long gone, and what is left is three parties laying blame on each other.
AGF argue that the mayor and the city council have left them in a situation where they could be forced to play in the temporary small stadium for years, which will make them lose millions in revenue costs.
The politicians are all critisicing each other as no one wants to admit any guilt while the general public blame both the football club and the municipality as the 'man on the street' is likely to pay for the financial blunders with possible savings to be made everywhere on general services for the citizens of the city.
And as if the current situation isn't enough there is now also speculation that AGF won’t be able to afford playing in the new stadium, when it at some stage reaches its completion.
A contract has not yet been made between the Aarhus municipality and AGF for the rental of the stadium. Originally, the two parties had signed a contract where AGF were to pay 7.3 million Danish kroner (approximately 970,000 euros) per year for 30 years. But the Danish Social Appeals Board could not legalise the contract.
The need for more transparency
Currently, the municipality has made proposals for part of the budget costs to be made will be done in relation to the quality of the floors, the seating in the VIP section and not least the capacity of the stadium, which at the start of the project was set to be 24,000 spectators.
The proposals have caused an uproar among the AGF management as the stadium capacity and VIP section will represent vital financial resources for the club in order to compete with FC Midtjylland and FC Copenhagen.
With the construction of the stadium having encountered a number of stumbling blocks, there has even been speculation that the project should be abandoned, but that hardly seems a solution for the club, as the old stadium has nearly been torn down. The newly instated Mayor, Anders Winnerskjold, also states that the project must be finished in one way or another.
"It's a very difficult scenario to be faced with as the new Mayor. We could pull the plug on the project, but it would be accompanied by an enormous bill. We have already put a lot of work into the project, the demolition of the old stadium is well under way, and we have spent a lot of money," said Anders Winnerskjold.
"In order to reach the goal line, we need a lot more transparency in the planning of the project, but when we take our seats in the new stadium, we'll hopefully by then dismiss the agony of the construction process."