According to a report in the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, FC St. Pauli has the right to decide which national teams are allowed to train at the European Football Championship in the Millerntor Stadium and which are not.
According to the newspaper, the venue of the second division team is one of the almost 50 possible locations from which the training facilities for the final round participants will be selected in two years.
The “SZ” refers to two sources familiar with the process, which confirmed the clause of the Hamburg club. The association is therefore the only one that claims this regulation for itself.
When asked, FC St. Pauli did not want to comment further on the information because it would be an internal agreement. “In general, however, FC St. Pauli reserves the right to exercise its domiciliary rights and, when selecting its partners, also ensures that they fit the club, its values and our sustainable goals,” the club said .
The Millerntor Stadium is an attractive location. In the finals, matches will be played at the Volksparkstadion by FC St. Pauli’s city rivals Hamburger SV. According to “SZ”, EM chief organizer Philipp Lahm had tried in vain to change the minds of those responsible for the neighborhood club. FC St. Pauli is known for its left-wing fan base.
The European Championship qualifiers haven’t even started yet. The final round participants will not be known until the end of 2023. In December next year, the preliminary round groups for the tournament in Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie will be drawn.