Barcelona will hold a referendum on the future of Camp Nou in April after redevelopment plans were announced.
A €600m renovation proposal has been revealed and the club’s president, Sandro Rosell, revealed club members would be able to vote on the idea in early April.
“Our commitment is to present a referendum on the project on April 5 or 6,” AS quotes Rosell as saying.
“The original project will be the basis for the new project.
“Barca is an icon and we want to deliver new generations of gems that will ensure our history and our legend grow.”
Naming rights for the stadium would provide part of the funding needed for the project, but the sponsor’s name would be incorporated into Camp Nou as opposed to replacing the stadium’s name.
A sum of €150m will be raised in this manner, with €200m from what AS describes as ‘internal financing’ and further €200m as a loan.
Work is scheduled to start in May in 2017 and will be completed in 2021.
Rosell explained why the board chose to redevelop their current home as opposed to building a new ground from scratch.
“The option to build a new stadium was discarded to avoid mortgaging the club and future policies with this historic step.
“In the coming weeks we will introduce our partners in the project and in a few days the programme of activities will be published.
“We thank the city of Barcelona for their help.”
