Not satisfied with the amount they have to pay for renting the Mladost stadium, Akademija Pandev moves to Kukush in Turnovo for the home games.

photo by Thomas Kettner: the Kukush stadium

Akademija Pandev won’t host first league matches at the Mladost stadium in Strumica anymore. They did not reach an agreement for renting the stadium with neighboring Belasica who owns the stadium.

According to the academy, Belasica asked €1200 for each of the first 10 games and even more for the remaining matches. According to the owner of Belasica, the main problem is that Akademija Pandev did not agree to having a matchday meals in the stadium restaurant. The academy is currently building a whole new football center which will include a small stadium capable of hosting first league matches. But that won’t be finished this season.

The Kukush stadium is currently not used by Horizont Turnovo as the club got expelled from competing in the 2.MFL East for not paying the necessary participation fee. It is sometimes used by other clubs, most recently Pobeda hosted Pelister there on Wednesday.

On Sunday at 14.00 CET Akademija Pandev will welcome Skopje in Turnovo, just 11 km from Strumica.

Explanation from both sides (in Macedonian):