Sturm play away in Champions League

Image: Red Bull Arena, Werner100359, CC0

Austrian football champions Sturm Graz are being forced to play their Champions League group matches in another federal state because of the poor state of their home ground in the city of Graz.

Kicker said that not only are their four away games far from home, the club’s four home games will also be played 138 km further southwest in Klagenfurt.

The four Champions League group stage matches will be played at the Wörthersee Stadion, as Merkur Arena does not meet the requirements for Champions League matches.

The Sportklub Sturm Graz is an Austrian professional association football club based in Graz, Styria (Austria), playing in the Austrian Football Bundesliga (the top level of the Austrian football league system). The club was founded in 1909.

Wörthersee Stadion known as 28 Black Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Klagenfurt, Austria. It is the home ground of Austria Klagenfurt.

The 16,364-capacity Liebenauer Stadium, known as the Merkur-Arena for sponsorship reasons, is in the Liebenau area of Graz, Styria, Austria. The ground is the home of the football club SK Sturm Graz and Grazer AK.

A dispute has been going on for a number of years involving the two clubs and the City which owns the ground.

The plan was that Graz AK would move out of the Merkur Arena to a smaller venue.

Both clubs are sulking over the politically enforced solution that both Sturm and GAK should play at Liebenau in Austria. Sturm Graz wants the Merkur Arena for itself.

Solutions to the row have been put forward including the expansion of Merkur Arena, the construction of a new stadium in Graz-Puntigam, or the construction of a new stadium for each club.

The city council is expected to commission feasibility studies into the various options shortly. One will be into a new 15,000 capacity stadium that would be built in Puntigam.

The other study will be carried out into the possibility of increasing the capacity of Liebenauer Stadium to 20,000 and bringing it up to the required standards to host European football.

There doesn’t seem to be any immediate solution to the problem, however, and the only real winner at the moment is Klagenfurt which is benefitting from hosting the Champions League, even though Austria Klagenfurt finished bottom of the division last season.

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.

• Tags »
• Austrian
• Graz
• Wörthersee Stadion

« Previous News: Utilita Bowl lights up with solar power