Real Madrid push back completion date of Santiago Bernabeu redevelopment

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Real Madrid push back completion date of Santiago Bernabeu redevelopment

Real Madrid's famous Santiago Bernabeu stadium will not be completely redeveloped until the start of the 2023/24 season at the earliest due to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The Bernabeu is currently undergoing a €525m facelift that will see the iconic arena gain a slight capacity increase and fitted with a retractable roof among other modern features.

It had been hoped that work would be finished in time to celebrate the stadium's 75th anniversary in December, but AS report that Real Madrid have accepted that the earliest possible re-opening will be for the start of the 2023/24 campaign. They are struggling to bring in the required materials in part due to Russia's presence in Ukraine.

Club president Florentino Perez recently admitted that Real's plans have also been heavily hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

"It [the Bernabeu] will be ready within a year, at the end of next season. We started work and just after the pandemic came. And then the war in Ukraine and that, as we all know, has provoked two things: a lack of materials and an increase in price," Perez said during a guest appearance on notorious Spanish TV channel El Chiringuito.

"But we are in the process of solving all of the problems and we are happy to have started, even if it was before the pandemic."

Real Madrid moved out of the Bernabeu and played at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano - the 5,000 capacity stadium at their training complex - during the pandemic when fans couldn't attend games in order to speed up renovations.

Los Blancos then returned to the Bernabeu for the 2021/22 season, but at a reduced capacity capped at just over 60,000 while work continued on the stadium.