The Champions League emblem.
(Photo: dpa)
FRANKFURT – The city of Frankfurt is fundamentally interested in holding the scheduled blitz tournament in the Champions League in August. This was confirmed by Markus Frank (CDU), Head of Sports in the main metropolis, on Thursday of the German Press Agency.
“Frankfurt is always able to help,” he said. “Of course we are interested, even if it is held differently than usual.” The finals in the premier class should have taken place last Saturday in Istanbul. Because of the Corona crisis, the European Cup season is currently interrupted. According to media reports, the European Football Union UEFA will give the final to another city because of the pandemic.
Germany and Portugal are the candidates for the final knockout rounds from the quarter-finals and the final, according to information from the US news agency AP. First, the “Bild” newspaper reported that Frankfurt wanted to apply. However, the host must name four stadiums for the four quarter-finals, two semi-finals and the final, which are to be played within about ten days.
Tournament without spectators
All around Frankfurt, the Opel Arena in Mainz and the TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stadium in Sinsheim could be considered. According to “Bild”, further possibilities would be the smaller stadiums of the second division SV Darmstadt 98 and SV Wehen Wiesbaden. The newspaper also writes about applicants from Portugal and Russia. The tournament should take place without spectators, as is currently the case in the Bundesliga. According to the AP, the final will take place in August. The decision will be made at the UEFA Executive Committee meeting on June 17.
Darmstadt CEO Michael Weilguny was surprised. “Nobody has approached us yet.” But he referred to various problems in the stadium at the Böllenfalltor in Darmstadt. On the one hand, the main grandstand should be demolished in summer and the new building should begin. So positions for TV cameras would be missing. In addition, the floodlights only meet second division requirements, there is no Hawk-Eye in the stadium. Weilguny: “A number of criteria would have to be checked first.”
The 05ers told our newspaper: “That would be a great thing, which we would of course be happy to support if this idea actually became concrete. At the moment, however, it doesn’t make sense for us to speculate about it. ”
From the Bundesliga, RB Leipzig is already qualified for the quarter-finals. FC Bayern Munich won the first knockout round first leg against Chelsea 3-0. Borussia Dortmund has dropped out in a duel with Paris Saint-Germain. In 2022 Munich will host the finals in the premier class.
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