Austrians Celebrate Opening Of New Football Stadium

The Austrian city of St. Pölten celebrated the opening of its new football stadium Saturday, according to the APA. The new NV Arena, named after Austrian insurance company NV, opened its gates with a party. Lower Austria Erwin Pröll Governor said that with "the opening of the new arena, Lower Austria has laid the infrastructure to improve football in the state." Hometown second-tier club SKN St. Pölten's Chair Gottfried Tröstl said that the new stadium is "a foundation for great football." Hours before the official opening a huge number of people "occupied the fan park in front of the stadium." The new stadium has a capacity of 8,000 people, which if necessary can be increased to 13,000. It had a price tag of €26M ($33M) and was financed by city, state and federal government (APA, 7/7).