Unterhaching – When the “Munich Ravens” sent out a press release on Sunday evening at 10:14 p.m. about their partnership with SpVgg Unterhaching and that they would be playing their home games in the “European League of Football” at the Alpenbauer-Sportpark from June, this was perhaps a bit premature . Because three days later, in the meeting of the Unterhachinger municipal council, various doubts about this project were raised: American football instead of regional league football – is that even possible?
“Clear disregard for the purpose of the lease”
Sticking point number one: SpVgg Unterhaching does not own the stadium at all, the listed football club is only a tenant. As such, sub-leasing the stadium – would that be legal? The group leader of the Greens, Evi Karbaumer, quoted several passages of the lease. It states that a sublease – as now planned – requires “the prior written permission” of the municipality. And: “The purpose of the lease is the game and practice operation for various football and youth teams of the Unterhachinger clubs as well as the operation of the restaurant.” Karbaumer sees “a clear disregard for the purpose of the lease” in the football project.
No written approval so far
Sticking point number two: After complaints from residents about the background noise, there was a noise report in 2021 – in the development plan 164 B, 18 busy home game days of the SpVgg were fixed as permissible per season, no more. The Munich Ravens are expecting up to 3,000 football fans – which is not legally covered. “The SpVgg is driving the municipal council in front of it,” complained Karbaumer. Mayor Wolfgang Panzer (SPD) emphasized “that there has not yet been any written approval for the use of football”. In March, local political bodies would deal with it.
stadium sale
Regardless of the football plans, the sale of the football stadium from the municipality to SpVgg Unterhaching, which has been discussed since 2017 and decided in 2020, remains a hot topic. A purchase price of 3.3 million euros has been agreed – the municipality even included this sum as “proceeds from the sale” in its budget for 2023, which was sewn to the brim. In plain language: The municipality is actually calculating with this money this year – and in a phase in which SpVgg Unterhaching is plagued by acute liquidity problems. Against the background that the lease is always extended on March 31, the SPD parliamentary group leader Peter Wöstenbrink called for “clarity on the stadium question”. If the sale to the regional league football club fails, “we as a municipality have to think about selling the sports park to a football-loving investor,” suggested Wöstenbrink.
Whether the SpVgg Unterhaching can raise the 3.3 million euros at all in view of their money problems is an open question – the Greens, so much leaked out on the sidelines of the municipal council meeting, this sum is far too little: they insist on their veto and want to demand a significantly higher purchase price .
location criticism
And the Greens of SpVgg Unterhaching missed another swipe when Armin Konetschny denied the location permission of the football club’s outsourced GmbH: “This GmbH is active in the field of consumer goods. Is it permissible for such a company to reside in the sports park, which is not even designated as an industrial area?”
