In Eden, the foundation stone of the new stadium was laid

Prague - The construction of a new home stadium for the football players of Slavia in Prague Vršovice officially began today. The ceremonial groundbreaking was initiated by the widow of the late football legend Josef Bican, Eva, together with the mayor of Prague 10, Milan Richter, former Slavia general director Vladimír Leška, and representatives of Slavia Prague and Bohemians 1905. Today, representatives of both Prague football clubs also signed a memorandum of cooperation in Eden, which declares Prague 10's participation in the stadium construction project.
    The ceremonial event attracted many legendary Slavia personalities from both past and present, including Slavia's hockey coach Vladimír Růžička and former tennis star Jan Kodeš. The former prime minister Stanislav Gross accepted the invitation, while the mayor of Prague Pavel Bém apologized, as he was in talks with President Václav Klaus at Prague Castle.
    The ageless legend of the patched team, František Veselý, believes that nothing will stop the stadium construction now. "Now it's clear. All the uncertainties that complicated the construction have been resolved. After all these years, we have finally made it," Veselý told ČTK. According to his own words, he wants to play in Eden once again. "In two or three years, when the stadium is ready, I want to try it out. To experience the atmosphere, what it will be like," Veselý added.
    Current players of Prague Slavia also came to see the event today. Forward Stanislav Vlček is looking forward mainly to a better atmosphere than his team experiences in their temporary home "the patched team" in Strahov. "It will definitely be better because the fans will be right by the pitch. They will be in more contact with the players. The atmosphere will definitely be better than when 1,500 people come to Strahov," Vlček is confident. The Slavia forward welcomed that at the new stadium, alongside the red and white team, the footballers of Bohemians 1905 will also play their home matches. "It's a reasonable solution, it works in Milan, so why shouldn't it work here," Vlček praised the agreement between Slavia and "Bohemka" with the Prague 10 city council.
    Recently, the city council of Prague 10 has taken a more decisive step into the entire project of building a multifunctional complex in Eden, stating that they will contribute a significant financial amount to the project if Bohemians 1905's footballers also play at the stadium alongside the patched team.
    It is speculated that the council of Prague 10 will release around 300 million crowns, which corresponds to about a third of the total project cost. This was confirmed today by former Slavia chief Vladimír Leška. "We have tentatively agreed that Prague 10 will contribute about thirty percent to the project, but everything is a matter of further negotiations," Leška said after the ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony, he is the head of the company E Side Property Limited, which was established specifically for the purpose of building the new stadium.
    The management of Prague Slavia has promised its fans a stadium several times in the past. It was initially supposed to be completed in 2003 and then in October 2005, when Leška even announced the date and time of the inaugural match. But only now does it seem that nothing is hindering the long-term project. This was confirmed by the mayor of Prague 10. "We have been working on the project for four years now. A few years ago we established a joint-stock company and at this moment I can say we have 60 million crowns available in our account plus another sum," Richter revealed to reporters.
    Construction machinery is currently on the site of the future stadium, and from the end of this week or the beginning of next week, the company Hochtief, which took over the plot in Eden in mid-September, is supposed to start with earthworks. The basic skeleton is expected to be completed by September 2007, and the inaugural match at the new stadium is planned for March 2008.