The roof of the National Arena in Bucharest is not to the liking of fire safety inspectors as it could easily catch fire! Therefore, the biggest and most expensive football stadium in Romania remains closed.
If the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations doesn't issue a fire safety permit, the Cityhall must have the 20 million euro roof replaced. Otherwise or they will be held accountable for any possible incident.
For more than two months now, the biggest and most expensive stadium in Romania cannot host matches, concerts or any other events that could have brought up to 55 thousand spectators to the National Arena.
Fire safety inspectors blame it on the retractable roof. The material used by the German construction company has not been homologated in Romania because it's quite flammable. The National Arena's roof, similar to the one of the stadium in Frankfurt, cost more than 100 million lei to build but meets only German standards.
Consequently, the contract to erect the most expensive Romanian stadium might end up on the Anticorruption prosecutors' table, Cityhall sources say.
The National Arena set the Bucharest Cityhall back 234 million euros. The former president of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, took part in the inauguration ceremony and had words of praise for this stadium lacking a fire safety permit.
Almost 20 million euros will go down the drain if the Municipality has to replace the roof. The car park of the National Arena created similar problems as it also lacks a fire safety permit.