Split Mayor Ivica Puljak announced on Thursday possible reconstruction of the city stadium "Poljud", and according to him, the project would cost between €30-40 million.

The reconstruction of this city’s landmark is set to start in mid-2024.

“I believe that it is possible to rebuild Poljud, and that simultaneously Hajduk can play matches on the pitch,” the mayor said at the general assembly of the Hajduk soccer club’s shareholders, which was held in Split on Thursday afternoon.

Puljak explained that the reconstruction would be financed by both the city and the government’s budget.

The stadium with a seating capacity of 34,198 was constructed in 1979 to be one of the venues for the 1979 Mediterranean Games.

In February 2022, the deputy mayor Antonio Kuzmanovic announced the reconstruction of the stadium.

He then said that the reconstruction would cost 148 million kuna (approximately €20 million) and that the City, as the majority owner, had applied for funding from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

According to Kuzmanic, it is necessary to rebuild the entire stadium roof and the concrete pillars.

According to him, if they don’t manage to get EU funding through the NPOO, they are planning to get funding through the Integrated Territorial Investment (ITU) mechanism or EU financial instruments, through which 50% of the funds can be reimbursed after the project has been realised.