Rennes face 36m-euro bill for ground upgrade

French side Rennes’s plans to increase the capacity of their stadium to nearly 35,000 seats will cost 36 million euros, the city announced on Tuesday.

The Ligue 1 outfit are hoping to upgrade their Stade de la Route de Lorient home so as to be considered as a host city in France’s bid to host the 2016 European Championship.

“It would involve an increase in the capacity of the stadium, currently estimated to be 29,434 seats, by 5,500 extra seats,” read a statement from Rennes town hall.

The Rennes authorities described the plans as being “of great technical complexity” and said that the next step was a financing package following discussions with public and private partners.

Rennes will compete with cities such as Toulouse and Bordeaux for the right to be named as one of the nine hosts in the French bid.

Italy, Turkey and a joint bid from Norway and Sweden are France’s rivals for the tournament.

European governing body UEFA will name the successful candidate on May 27, 2010.

Sports Minister Roselyne Bachelot has already announced that the government is prepared to put 150 million euros towards the “renewal, improvement and construction” of French stadiums.