Stadium is good news but ‘don’t disrupt sport,’ Hassan Nahon says

Independent MP Marlene Hassan Nahon has congratulated the Gibraltar Football Association over the deal it has struck with the Gibraltar Government in respect of its purchase of the Victoria Stadium.
In a statement Mrs Hassan Nahon said: “I would like to congratulate the Gibraltar Football Association for achieving this important deal with UEFA and FIFA and bringing in £31million of investment in Gibraltar.”
She added that the deal “seems to benefit practically every single sport played in Gibraltar as they will now enjoy new and improved facilities”.
“This is a major investment in this sector of society and money invested in our sport, youth and culture is always a good thing and in this case was very much needed,” she said.
Mrs Hassan Nahon added that moving forward “these plans are all good so long as they do not affect or disrupt other sporting events that have nothing to do with football especially during construction stages.”
This, she said, would be unfair to these sports and football should not be seen to have priority over any other sports.
She further explained that she looks forward to seeing the Government going through the correct processes to award any construction/ consultancy works and always seek value for money.
“Even though this project is not directly funded by the taxpayer, this money still belongs to the taxpayer,” Mrs Hassan Nahon said.
She added that she trusts that the Government consider and factor in the financial aspect of maintaining these facilities during construction and once they are built.
“Many new facilities are being built at once and this will mean a significant amount of investment in the sector on a yearly basis to maintain these to a satisfactory standard and not let them deteriorate.”
“We hope Government takes these costs and extra expenses into account so that they do not become a burden to the taxpayer in the future.”
Finally, Mrs Hassan Nahon wished the Government the best of luck in completing the facilities “fast and effectively” highlighting the Island Games which Gibraltar will host in 2019.