Barcelona president proposes new stadium at Camp Nou site

Sandro Rosell appeared on Monday to try to find a middle ground between getting Barcelona a new stadium and maintaining the historical significance of the Camp Nou.

The Camp Nou was built in 1957 and is Europe's largest stadium. Luis Bagu / Getty Images

Barcelona president Sandro Rosell on Monday dismissed the idea of building a new stadium elsewhere in the Catalan city and instead proposed that the Spanish club build on the site of the Camp Nou.

“The Board has unanimously decided to put the plan to build a new stadium on the structure of the Camp Nou to the shareholders,” Rosell told a press conference.

“The option of building a new stadium in a new location has been ruled out ... the final cost of the operation could jeopardize the club,” said Rosell.

“The cost of going to Diagonal (the proposed new location) is very high, almost double,” he said.

“It has been a difficult decision, the two projects were extremely attractive,” he said, stressing that the responsibility of management “was to present viable project.”

FC Barcelona director for economic and strategy Jordi Moix explained that the plans for the Camp Nou was a “complex technical project” which would cost an “acceptable” 600 million euros and would extend the venue’s capacity from 99,000 to 105,000 spectators.

The new stadium would cost about 400 million euros and the remainder would cover the upgrading of facilities, club economic vice-president Javier Faus said.

FC Barcelona members can vote on the project in a referendum on April 5 and 6.

If approved, the project will take place over the next six or eight years, said Faus.

Built in 1957, the Camp Nou is the largest stadium in Europe.