Article by Cezar Titor, Tudor Belivacă – Published on Wednesday, 13 May 2026, 21:25 / Updated on Wednesday, 13 May 2026 21:31
The National Arena officially entered the period of inactivity at the end of this season. The stadium in the capital of Romania hosted the Metallica band's concert today, and the troubled giant that is the home of Dinamo, FCSB and, sometimes, Rapid has turned into the host of the famous rock band.
The National Arena has now closed and will remain closed for sporting competitions until mid-July when the upcoming Super League season begins.
In addition to the Metallica show, Iron Maiden, on May 28, and Max Korzh, on May 23, will also perform at the National Arena, while the Kapital Festival is also scheduled for the beginning of July. The preparations started a few days ago, but today, on the day of the concert, everything took shape.
PHOTO. The National Arena, completely changed for the Metallica concert in Bucharest
The National Arena looked completely different today than the microbists were used to. For concerts of this size, the special “In the Round” stage is set up, and the playing surface is protected or changed afterwards.
Also, several screen poles were installed around the round stage to allow everyone in the stadium to see what was happening on the stage placed right in the center of the surface. About 65,0000 people passed through the gates to see the famous rock band.
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The affected teams were Dinamo and FCSB. The defending champion was forced to move to Ghencea, while the “dogs” turned to the “Arcul de Triumf” option, the arena that was their home for several seasons.
The National Arena is deteriorating alarmingly! Bucharest City Hall announced that it wants to repair the stadium
The National Arena is in a visible state of constant decay. Gazeta Sporturilor has written several times about the major problems at the country's largest stadium: non-functional elevators, broken seats to destroyed boxes, fallen walls and infiltrations.
For example, following the winter snows, the ceiling through which the water had infiltrated began to seriously crack. Water was leaking from the ceiling, the stadium literally flooded. The seats in the VIP area are patched with tape to mask the holes, and the cube in the middle of the arena, with four LED monitors, still has missing “pixels”.
In 2026, the City Hall will allocate 3.1 million lei (approximately 600,000 euros) to repair certain problems at the National Arena.
300,000 lei will be the amount distributed for a feasibility study to make the above-ground parking within the stadium accessible. PMB will also offer 408,000 lei for a software license for ticketing and spectator access control for the turnstiles and the amount of 500,000 lei for repairing the cube. The largest amount, 2 million lei, will go to technical expertise for deficiencies and degradations, i.e. for repairs.
