New football stadium, PM whistled
August 13th, 2014A conservative writes that those who whistled during the Prime Minister’s speech at the opening ceremony of the new Ferencváros stadium can only make news for a few days, while the stadium is a long term investment.
In Magyar Nemzet, sports columnist Attila Bajnai recalls past architectural projects that raised vocal protests at first but then became some of the great attractions of the Hungarian capital. One of them is the lavish neo-gothic building of Parliament. There are two kinds of people, he explains – those who embark on daring projects and those who are overwhelmed by their daily concerns. He believes those who whistled during the inauguration ceremony of the new stadium on Sunday belonged to the latter. He does not contend that all football stadium projects underway nowadays are absolutely indispensable, but suggests that football is the most popular game of mankind and Hungary badly needed a state of the art pitch. After Chelsea (who won the inaugural match against Ferencváros 2:1) Northern Ireland will be the first international guest to play a European Championship qualifier in September, and “they will have no reason to look at the stadium with a condescending smile”. That does not deprive anyone of the right to whistle during the inaugural speeches, Balla continues, but they could only cause momentary annoyance. He is convinced that the stadium will be one of the great attractions of the Hungarian capital for a long time to come.