During the annual technical inspection, a defect in the rope structure of the stadium roof was discovered. Since the roof is a specialised structure made of stretched steel ropes, any defect in the element may endanger the whole stadium.

In the case of the Warsaw arena, one of the connectors has been damaged. It was a faulty connector that was the cause of the collapse during the construction of the Silesian Stadium in Chorzow.

Stadium closed to all

It should come as no surprise that the stadium has now been closed to everyone. There are no tours, conferences or other events. Even the grounds near the building are out of use. This is the result of recommendations of constructors and contractors at the facility.

The recommendation prevents Poland and Chile's friendly, scheduled for November 16th, from being played at the stadium. "This defect seems to be so serious today that - at least until a more precise diagnosis of this defect is made - it makes it impossible to use the national stadium in any form," said Kamil Bortniczuk, Polish minister of sport.

Rumours suggest the match is to be moved to Legia Warsaw's stadium on the other side of the Vistula River, but confirmation is expected soon. For now, it has been confirmed that the game will not be played at the Narodowy stadium and fans will be refunded.

Plan of action

Staff at the stadium, whose job is to manage the repair of the defect, will be supported by additional expert opinions.

Wlodzimierz Dola, president of the management board at the Narodowy stadium, also announced that "a repair plan is being prepared by the designer and contractors", which will be in two stages.

"The first stage will be to temporarily secure the place where the defect has arisen, so that it does not cause further degradation, or even greater consequences. Once we have this stage completed, we will be able to consider completely fixing the issue," he explained.