A Greek tragedy and Portugal's pride
The $330 (zł.1,076) million venues of the Hellinikon complex have only been occasionally used for sports events as well as concerts and exhibitions. The Greek government miraculously managed to finish all the stadiums and arenas just in time, after the world watched the constructors' race against the clock at a pace that would have most Olympians out of breath.
However, they failed to prepare a coherent plan for the future use of the almost 30 venues built just for the Olympics. The organizers didn't follow in the footsteps of their predecessors, who constructed temporary venues for the less popular sports, and today the Greeks are left with large facilities for sports such as baseball or field hockey, which are hardly played in the country. Only the main Olympic stadium has found a permanent use by two local football clubs, while the adjacent media center is to be turned into museum of sport.
Tenders are to be held for the long-term leases of the venues, which are to be used as commercial stores, commercial exhibitions, conference centers and for cultural events. Greece reportedly spent EUR 13 (zł.42.4) billion to host the Games.
Portuguese success
The 2004 European Championships took place in 10 stadiums, three of which were reconstructed and modernized while seven were brand new. Total construction costs amounted to EUR 680.8 (zł.2,220) million.
A year after Euro 2004, all but one of the stadiums are used by league football teams and attendance at Portuguese games went up by 30 percent in the 2004/2005 season in comparison to the previous year. Many stadiums include multi-purpose pavilions with swimming pools, health centers, and gyms.
The stadium in Coimbra is part of a large leisure complex that also includes a huge shopping center. Sporting Lisbon's Estadio Jose Alvalade has been acoustically prepared for music concerts and has already hosted the Rolling Stones. Last year's UEFA Cup Final was also played there.
The black mark in Portugal's success story is the 30,000 stadium in Faro, which stands idle as local teams play in lower divisions and don't attract large crowds.
