Contrary to previous assumptions, Union Berlin may not have to play its Champions League home games in the Olympic Stadium after all. The background is a UEFA decision.
The European Football Union UEFA will continue to allow the sale of standing room tickets in the coming European Cup season. In Germany, France and England, standing room is allowed for games in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League in the 2023/24 season, as the governing body announced in Nyon on Wednesday.
The decision could open a door for the Bundesliga club 1. FC Union Berlin to hold their Champions League premiere in their own stadium An der Alten Försterei. The Berlin Olympic Stadium is currently planned as the home venue.
Open questions in “technical conditions”
With the decision, UEFA is extending its pilot project from last season. In the coming months, further investigations are to be carried out and guidelines drawn up. For international matches, however, the decision made last summer provided for the seat ban at international games that has been practiced for decades. This means that standing room at the 2024 European Championships in Germany is probably out of the question. Contrary to earlier statements by the association, DFB President Bernd Neuendorf had recently spoken out in favor of standing room at the European Championship.
Due to the large amount of standing room in its stadium, Union Berlin had planned to move to the Olympic Stadium for its Champions League games if standing room had not been extended. There is more than 18,000 standing places at the Alte Försterei, but less than 4,000 seats. In the 2021/22 season, the capital club had already moved to west Berlin for its games in the Conference League. Now Union has to decide between standing room romance and the desire of many fans to play in their own stadium and the financially more lucrative move to the Olympic Stadium.
Not only standing room situation decisive
In addition to the capacity, other factors are decisive for the choice of the Champions League home ground, in particular the size of the grandstand area for the reporting media. This is a lot larger in the Berlin Olympic Stadium than in the old forester’s house.
At a press conference, Dirk Zingler said at the beginning of the month: “If it’s possible, we’ll play in the old forester’s house.” The Union President also suggested that beyond the standing room decision of the Uefa Executive Committee, other aspects are decisive for the game port: “On the other hand, we will not have a decision beforehand as far as the technical conditions are concerned.”
