MVM Dome and Duna Arena to jointly serve as the main venues of the 2027 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest
The swimming competitions and the water polo tournament of the 2027 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest will be held at the MVM Dome, while the Duna Arena will host diving and artistic swimming events, announced Ádám Schmidt, the government commissioner responsible for the event. The aim is to allow as many spectators as possible to cheer live at the venues for the world’s best athletes.
The next World Aquatics Championships will take place in Budapest between June 26 and July 18, 2027, making the Hungarian capital a world first, as no city has previously hosted one of the most important events in the sports world three times. Following a decision by the Hungarian organizers and the international federation, the MVM Dome will now be among the main venues of the event, serving as the home of swimming and water polo competitions. At the Duna Arena, the world’s best divers and artistic swimmers will be able to showcase their skills, enjoying even more comfortable conditions at the Budapest championships.
“It is a great honor that we can host the largest aquatic sports event for the third time, and we would like to thank World Aquatics for their trust. This is an especially great success because it will take place in the year preceding the Olympic Games; in many sports this will be the most important competition from a qualification perspective, so enormous interest is expected,” said Dr. Ádám Schmidt, government commissioner of the championships and co-chair of the organizing committee. “New opportunities have opened up now that we have several world-class sports facilities, allowing us to plan with a much broader venue portfolio. Thanks to the MVM Dome, we can ensure that around ten thousand fans will be able to cheer on the world’s best swimmers and water polo players on site,” the commissioner added.
Water polo and swimming will therefore be held consecutively at the same venue, the region’s largest multifunctional arena, with two temporary pools installed. In the case of the MVM Dome, the possibility of hosting swimming competitions was already taken into account during the design phase; the venue has previously hosted, among others, the Men’s European Handball Championship and international ice hockey matches.
“This will be the third World Championships in Budapest, but the first that also serves as an Olympic qualification event, which makes the preparation an even greater responsibility,” said Sándor Wladár, President of the Hungarian Swimming Association. “Although the Duna Arena is very close to our hearts, the MVM Dome is the facility whose size and atmosphere can truly prepare our athletes for the 2028 Olympic Games, as the swimming events there will be held in the Los Angeles NFL stadium. Since the competitions in Budapest will already follow the Olympic program exactly, it can be said that at the 2027 World Championships everything can be modeled that will await swimmers a year later.”
“In water polo, earning an Olympic quota is becoming an increasingly serious challenge, so it could be a major advantage for us to secure Olympic qualification for the first time with the support of home fans,” said Norbert Madaras, President of the Hungarian Water Polo Federation. “In 2017 the men’s team, and in 2022 the women’s team, were able to play in the final at the Budapest World Championships. I hope that this time, in the MVM Dome packed to capacity by our supporters, both teams will succeed simultaneously. Essentially, the minimum we need to repeat is what both the men’s and women’s national teams achieved this year in Singapore. After the two silver medals this summer, we said by way of consolation: if we had won both golds now, what would have been left for Budapest? With that, I’ve also revealed our goal for 2027.”
“The Hungarian organizational experience accumulated over the past decade in hosting aquatic sports and other large-scale sporting events provides a strong guarantee that the 2027 World Aquatics Championships will also be organized at an outstanding level, in the service of excellent performances and lasting fan experiences,” said Dr. Mátyás Falvai, CEO of the National Event Management Agency.