FIFA announced on Friday that it is likely to withdraw support for the construction of a new stadium in Zürich, after preliminary plans that were published showed that the stadium will include standing places.
FIFA, which has its global headquarters in the Swiss city, had previously pledged to contribute CHF 20 million to the realisation of a football-specific stadium for Zürich clubs Grasshoppers FC and FC Zürich. The governing boy has however also taken a position strongly against standing places, and therefore stated that it will “rethink its commitment to the promised 20 million Swiss Francs.”
The city of Zürich recently started a process that should lead to the realisation of a new stadium by 2017. Zürich football clubs Grasshoppers and FC Zürich have been playing their home games at Letzigrund since their previous home Hardturm closed down in 2007. Letzigrund, though used as a playing venue during Euro 2008, is however not very suited for football purposes as it was built for hosting athletics events.
The proposed stadium has a price tag of €150 million, of which FIFA was to contribute €20 million. The stadium is planned to have a capacity of 19,000, including a few thousand standing places.
Photo: © www.stadt-zurich.ch
The use of standing places has been officially banned for international matches by FIFA and UEFA, though are fairly common in German-speaking countries during domestic games. They are subsequently converted into seating areas for international games.
FIFA, however, has taken a clear stand in favour of stadiums with seats only, which means that both clubs will now have to assess how much of a value they place on their fans being able to stand.