During the standard annual technical inspection of the metal structure of the PGE National roof in Warsaw, a defect in one of the elements of the steel and cable structure was revealed. Due to the recommendations of builders and experts, the management of the facility has decided to suspend the operation of the stadium and exclude the possibility of visiting it.
“I was informed today that during the inspection of the steel structure of the national stadium, a defect in one of the elements was discovered, which, according to the contractor and the designer, makes it impossible to use of the national stadium in any form until it is diagnosed more thoroughly and, possibly, certain security solutions are applied” – he informed at the conference in the press release by Kamil Bortniczuk. “Therefore, we have taken the only right decision in this situation to close the national stadium immediately,” he stressed.
The Poland-Chile match has been moved
The Minister of Sports also indicated that he had convened a crisis management team in this file. “Apart from solving the problems posed by this situation, in a few days the last game of the Polish national team against Chile was to take place in this facility before leaving for the Qatar World Cup,” Bortniczuk recalled. “Therefore, we met at the Polish Football Association with the president and other important people” – he added. As he pointed out, “The Polish Football Association has already published its announcement after this game.”
Press release from the operator PGE Narodowy 👉 https://t.co/RlrJXdfgyz pic.twitter.com/fn15hsE6Se
– PGE Narodowy (@PGENarodowy) November 11, 2022
“I wanted to reassure you that the match itself is not in danger. PZPN will communicate, perhaps even today, on which other stadium this match will take place” – said the Minister of Sports.
“This flaw appears to be so severe today that – at least until a more accurate diagnosis of this flaw is made – it makes it impossible to use the National Stadium in any form,” explained the Minister Kamil Bortniczuk.
As PGE Narodowy Chairman of the Board, Włodzimierz Dola, pointed out at the press conference, “this defect is so significant that it threatens security”. He recalled that “following the examination of the metal structure of the installation, the entity which carried out this test for us informed us that there was a problem in the form of a scratch on one steel members to which the sunroof is attached”. “. “As soon as we received this decision, we contacted the designer of the roof structure, as well as the contractors who, at the time of construction, were carrying out work related to the construction of the PGE Narodowy, then the National Stadium” – he noted.
He also said that “on November 10, a German designer and Italian and Polish contractors, as well as an employee of one of the scientific institutes dealing with this type of constructions, came to see us”. “The whole day of consultations and tests meant that yesterday after 23:00 we received a recommendation from the designer of the roof structure to close PGE Narodowy immediately, and that’s what we did” – said Włodzimierz Dola .
There is a recovery plan. It consists of two stages
He also informed that “a repair plan is being drawn up by the designer and the contractors”, which will be in two stages. “The first step will be to temporarily secure the place where the defect appeared, so that it does not lead to further degradation or even greater consequences. Once this step is completed, we can consider resolving the problem completely. .” He explained.
Due to a defect in one of the elements of the steel and cable structure, the PGE Narodowy stadium is temporarily closed for use. Among other things, the match between Poland and Chile, scheduled for November 16, will not take place.
-Lukasz Bok (@LukaszBok) November 11, 2022
During the conference, the sports minister was, among other things, when asked when the stadium will be closed. “It will be closed until we are sure it is safe to use this facility,” he said. As he pointed out, all events scheduled at the stadium are canceled at this time.
Poland – Chile. Fans will receive a refund for their tickets
When asked about tickets purchased by fans, he replied that to his knowledge, PZPN had already informed that they would be issuing refunds. As he added, a new sales campaign will be carried out on the installation where the match will take place.
“This situation really shows that all procedures worked as they should. All inspections were carried out according to the schedule required by the construction law” – noted Bortniczuk.
He also pointed out that this year, in March, he ordered an additional inspection, a thorough examination of the roof structure, “due to the fact that the guarantee after the 10-year life of this installation has expired”. “This review in March has not yet shown any drawbacks, it was done with the same method by the same company. So, unfortunately, something happened there from March to today” – a he noted.
“The first information is that the crack we are talking about is growing relatively quickly over time, so we have taken the only right decision to close the national stadium until it can be used safely” – he said. he underlined the Minister of Sports.
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bg / PAP
