Broken floodlights
Sturm Graz will not play in Klagenfurt after all!
The ASK sports facility in the Fischl district of Klagenfurt is probably "for the fish" - at least that's what Sturm Graz think! The Bundesliga champions wanted to host the Youth League, the mini-Champions League for U19 teams, here. Everything was fixed, UEFA agreed - but crows are also to blame for the fact that the floodlights have not been working for more than a decade. Now Sturm, which has to play in Carinthia according to the regulations, has to move. . .
No light, no games! Sturm Graz wanted to play the home games of the UEFA Youth League, i.e. the Champions League for U19 teams, in the Fischl district of Klagenfurt. UEFA has long since designated the current ASK facility as the official venue - but now everything is different . . .
Not a cent left . . .
Because the four floodlight masts there have not been working for more than a decade! On the one hand, probably because the city - the sports department could not be reached for comment - does not have a cent to spare for a replacement. And secondly for a really curious reason - which Günther Krammer, an official of ASK, which rents the stadium, explains: "We've been here for 13 years and have never switched on the floodlights because we've never needed them. But it doesn't work anyway - because crows once pecked through the power cables." Which really doesn't reflect well on the self-proclaimed sports city of Klagenfurt.
We've been here for 13 years and have never switched on the floodlights because we've never needed them. But it doesn't work anyway - because crows once pecked through the power cables.
Günther KRAMMER, ASK-Funktionär
45 minutes distance as a guideline
"We assumed that a venue with four masts would also have a functioning light," says Sturm's head of match operations Bruno Hütter, who has to play the games in Carinthia: According to UEFA, the Youth League can only be staged 45 minutes away from the Champions League venue.
And as there are also strict guidelines regarding floodlights, Sturm - under former WAC amateurs coach Jürgen Säumel - will switch to the St. Veit Jacques-Lemans-Arena for the match against Bruges on Wednesday (4pm).
St. Veit is delighted
The Herzogstadt is delighted that the "mini-Blackies" are coming for at least four games. "It's an honor - we hope to see future stars," said Michi Salbrechter, head of sports at SC St. Veit.
One Carinthian is in the squad: Gambian Abdoulie Kanté, who grew up in Ferlach. The striker moved to Graz from AKA WAC in 2023. The 16-year-old did not make an appearance in the 4:1 opening win for Sturm's U19s in Brest.
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