by Larry Eder
VAN DAMME MEET IS SAFE FOR FUTURE
BRUSSELS (BEL): Wilfried Meert, the organiser of the Memorial Van Damme will chair a group that will look into the future of athletics in Belgium beyond 2020 after it was decided that the new national stadium would not have an athletics track, reports dhnet.be. The Memorial Van Damme has an agreement to use the King Baudouin Stadium until at least 2020. Meert explained that they have received assurance that they can use the King Badouin Stadium until another athletics stadium is constructed. “We are delighted that our call was heard to keep an athletics stadium.” “We now have the assurance that we can continue until there is a new stadium with athletics track, which the future of the Memorial is assured in Brussels. We continue with the Memorial anyway until 2019 the final of the Diamond League, which is ultimately the most important athletic event in the world, after the World Championships. And we are now full for the European Championships in 2022 in a new stadium, which will put our country and Brussels even more firmly on the map for commitment to the global sport.” The green light for a new football stadium on the Heysel plateau was given on the condition that athletics (and other sports) would still have their stadium. Meanwhile, a real alternative is being developed by the time the King Baudouin Stadium would disappear. That new athletics stadium will accommodate at least 40,000 spectators.
