"Turn over every euro"

Because of 4500 €: City discontinues soccer tournament

Until now, the soccer winter cup has always been held at the ASK sports center in Fischl.

(Bild: Claudio Trevisan)

The city of Klagenfurt and the responsible sports authority are discontinuing the traditional Winter Football Cup for lower league clubs - even though it doesn't cost that much. Now Carinthian League club SAK is stepping in.

A fixed date for lower league clubs in Klagenfurt - that's what the Football Winter Cup at the ASK sports center has been since 2014. From now on, however, it will no longer be. This is because the popular test tournament, which is always held at the beginning of the year, will no longer be sponsored by the city in future - for a curious reason, as the sports office responsible for it recently announced by email: "Unfortunately, some requests from clubs cannot be considered. For this reason - and also taking into account the financial situation of the city of Klagenfurt - the decision has now been made to cancel the Winter Cup in the calendar year 2025."

What is so strange about this? The city sponsored the Cup with 4,500 euros, which went directly to organizer ASK - not a huge sum of money. Especially not for a provincial capital.

"The clubs were no longer interested either"
"We have to look very carefully at where we spend what, we turn over every euro twice. But there wasn't much interest from the clubs beforehand either," explains Sports Councillor Constance Mochar.

Sports Councillor Constance Mochar (right)

(Bild: SPÖ)

Clubs pay themselves
Nevertheless, Carinthian League club SAK is now stepping in with its artificial turf pitch in Welzenegg in February 2025. "We have already sent out invitations and received commitments from Austria, Donau and Wölfnitz. However, the clubs now have to make a financial contribution themselves. However, the city is making the artificial pitch available to us free of charge," explains SAK functionary Silvo Kumer.