Dalić Won't See the Opening of the €45 Million Camp
Work on the modern complex in Velika Gorica is progressing, but the completion date has been pushed to 2027. The team will be prepared at the new facility by Slaven Bilić.
Work on the modern complex in Velika Gorica is progressing, but the completion date has been pushed to 2027. The team will be prepared at the new facility by Slaven Bilić.
Zlatko Dalić, the former coach of the Croatian national football team, whose contributions to the Vatreni's success are undeniable, will not see the realization of one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Croatian football. Although construction was a hot topic during his tenure, the opening of the new Croatian Football Federation (HNS) camp in Velika Gorica is scheduled for 2027, by which time the national team will already be led by new coach Slaven Bilić.
In April last year, the construction site for the future camp was ceremonially opened-a modern sports complex that will span 92,013 square meters. The Velika Gorica City Council rezoned the plots for sports and recreation, removing the last administrative hurdle to start work. The complex will include four football pitches, a small stadium for youth and women's team matches, and an administrative building that will become the Federation's new headquarters.
HNS President Marijan Kustić visited the site in August last year and expressed satisfaction with the pace of work. However, he did not specify when everything would be completed. At the time, he said he was pleased with the progress but did not commit to a finish date. It was already clear then that the national team would not be using the new camp for the World Cup in America, as was once considered.
The total cost of the project is estimated at €45 million. Funding comes from several sources: HNS, UEFA and FIFA funds, as well as the Croatian Government. Through the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, the government will contribute a total of €15 million-€5 million per year from 2025 to 2027. This financial plan makes it easy to deduce that the new target for completion is indeed 2027.
The work is now visually noticeable, especially from the Velika Gorica bypass. According to the official building permit, the first phase includes the construction of the administrative building, the stadium, a warehouse with office space, a utility warehouse, and a service building such as a substation. The camp will not only serve as a training and preparation site for national teams but also as an educational center for young footballers and coaching staff.
Dalić's era was marked by historic successes, but the infrastructure deficit remains a sore point for Croatian football. The Federation and the state still lack an adequate national stadium, and discussions about its construction have dragged on for decades. In this context, the construction of the camp is sensational news. As noted, the national team deserved such a facility some thirty years ago, not today.
In the end, Zlatko Dalić, whose efforts were also enormous in getting this project off the ground, will not get to lead the team from the new facility. That honor and responsibility will fall to his successor, Slaven Bilić, who will prepare the national team at the modern complex in Velika Gorica.
