site.btaSofia Last in EU for Satisfaction with Sports Facilities - Eurostat

Sofia, June 15 (BTA) - Sofia is last out of 109 EU cities in an Eurostat analysis on inhabitants' satisfaction with sports facilities, such as sport fields and indoor sport halls, in 2015. Only 38 per cent of Sofianites responded that they were very satisfied (30 per cent) or rather satisfied (8 per cent) with the Bulgarian capital's sports facilities; the remaining 62 per cent found Sofia's sports facilities rather unsatisfactory (25 per cent) or not at all satisfactory (14 per cent).

Sofia currently has a dozen stadiums, around ten big sport complexes, one big national sport base comprising five sport halls, three outdoor swimming pools, gyms, and many other smaller sports facilities. Also available are hundreds of private sports facilities. According to experts, out of the designated sports areas, there are around 4 sq m per Sofianite.

The last sports facility to have been unveiled in Sofia is the Arena Armeec Sports Hall. Opened in 2011, it has a capacity of up to 15,000 people and caters to over 30 types of sports.

The reasons for the state of Sofia's sports facilities are various but two problems stand out: this is the most dynamically developing capital in Europe, with a population that has increased nearly 100-fold in the last hundred years, and the last years have seen the destruction of many sports areas due to building construction.