Romanian businessman and former tennis player Ion Tiriac will invest more than EUR 30 million in a sports complex to be opened in Otopeni, near Bucharest, by 2019.

The sports complex will cover some 20 hectares. The first phase of the complex, namely the ice skating rink, will be inaugurated in mid-October this year, reports local Wall-street.ro.

The rink required an investment of EUR 3.5 – 3.9 million and covers more than 4,800 sqm. It has a capacity of 500 seats, but it could be expanded to 1,000 if necessary. It will operate 11 months a year, and it will also serve the national hockey league.

Ion Tiriac’s project will also include a sports kindergarten, a multipurpose hall, and 25 tennis courts.

Ion Tiriac announced earlier this year that he would sell the ATP tournament in Bucharest (BRD Nastase Tiriac Open) as the city doesn’t have a tennis arena suitable to host such a competition.

Ion Tiriac became famous as a tennis player in the 1960s and 1970s. He and Ilie Nastase won the men's doubles contest at Roland Garros in 1970. However, before starting his tennis player career, Tiriac played hockey. He was even on the Romanian national team at the 1964 Winter Olympics.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com