According to information from the “Leipziger Volkszeitung”, the DFB Cup match between Bundesliga club RB Leipzig and Hamburg’s regional league club Teutonia Ottensen is now to take place in the Red Bull Arena.
The German Football Association (DFB) made an exception and agreed to an exchange of home rights. According to the newspaper, the DFB should announce the decision on Wednesday. The game is scheduled for August 30 (8:45 p.m. / ZDF).
As an amateur club, the fourth division team has home rights against the cup defenders. Teutonia was not allowed to use their own stadium because of the artificial turf, the second division FC St. Pauli and Hamburger SV did not want to make their arenas available for a game against RB Leipzig. The move to Dessau, almost 400 kilometers away, was therefore to take place. So far, over 7,000 of the 20,000 tickets have been sold.
After contamination of the lawn in Dessau, the staging was questionable. As reported by “Bild”, strangers had dumped an apparently toxic substance on the pitch in the Paul Greifzu Stadium, which caused the lawn to shrink. Both penalty areas and the center circle are affected. The police are investigating property damage.
“As it looks now, you can’t play like that. That’s dead grass. That’s dead grass that won’t grow back anytime soon. We’re looking for a solution with everyone involved. A decision will definitely have to be made this week,” Benjamin Völker, Department of Sports of the City of Dessau, told the MDR. Both clubs worked together with the DFB to solve the space problem.