The general mayor of Bucharest, Sorin Oprescu, stated that U2 would not appear on Bucharest’s new National Stadium this September, according to mediafax.ro. The Irish band is to be, then, at the end of their South Africa tour, so that it would be too difficult to ensure transport for their famous stage, The Claw.
“The negotiators were telling me 120 trucks would be needed to transport the famous stage. Without the stage, the show wouldn’t be complete,” Oprescu explained. Instead of U2, Sorin Oprescu promised he would bring another band to perform on the Lia Manoliu National Stadium, but did not provide any names. “We have a back-up plan, but I will only reveal it when the stadium is ready,” the mayor added. At the beginning of the year, the head of the Bucharest City Hall’s Investments Department, Bogdan Hreapca, ad stated: “We know for sure that we’ll have a concert that will gather approximately 60,000 people in September. We are negotiating with n U2 promoter. If it’s not U2, then it will certainly be a top band, because the people of Bucharest, and others, deserve this”. According to Bucharest City Hall representatives, the Lia Manoliu National Stadium, where U2 were supposed to appear, is to be completed by this summer. The arena is due to host, on August 9, the Romania-Argentina game.