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Spanish LaLiga giants Atletico Madrid yesterday announced that the name of their new stadium would be ‘Wanda Metropolitano’.
At an event held in the VIP lounge of the clubs current Vicente Calderón stadium, Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo, the men and women’s first teams, Club legends, supporters’ club members, and members of the red and white Senate came together while Miguel Ángel Gil and Wang Jianlin, chairman of Wanda Group, signed the agreement in Beijing.
The under construction 70,000 capacity Wanda Metropolitano will host Atletico Madrid first team matches with effect from the 2017/18 season onwards.
Enrique Cerezo announced the agreement with Wanda Group at the beginning of the event, which also featured the introduction to the new Atletico de Madrid club badge (logo)-
Vicente Vallés, a recognized Atlético fan, was in charge of presenting the event in which all the estates of the club were represented: team legends, board of directors, male and female players, coaching staff, veteran members and supporters’ club members representing the fans.
Enrique Cerezo opened the event with a speech in which he noted the importance of continuing to grow. “Today, we take an important step in this necessary evolution. An evolution that we face with the utmost enthusiasm,” he indicated.
Following the chairman, Adelardo and Fernando Torres took the stage to share with the attendees their memories of the Metropolitano, the former, and the stories that his grandfather told the latter about the legendary stadium. The midfielder lived the move from the Metropolitano to the Vicente Calderón and told his experience. Fernando, visibly moved, shared his feelings with all the attendees.
The event continued with the participation of Miguel Ángel Gil and Wang Jianlin with videos of each from Beijing, where the agreement on the name of the stadium was signed.
For his part, the Wanda chairman assessed very positively the link of the brand to the new red and white home. “Congratulations to Atlético de Madrid and its fans for this spectacular stadium. It will be one of Europe’s top level stadiums. I hope that some day it can host a UEFA Champions League final. And I hope that Atleti gets the best results in all competitions,” he noted.
The event also served to present the latest evolution of the team’s badge for the coming season, product of the club’s collaboration with the communication and design studio Vasava.
