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D C U P S O C C E R 2 0 0 6
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In preparation for the World Cup
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In total, sixteen cities are in the running to stage matches as a DM2,917 million (£941 million) stadia programme gets underway but three completed stadia - Dortmund's Westfalen, Hamburg's Volkspark and Schalke 04's new stadium in Gelsenkirchen - are among the front-runners to stage matches as soccer's World Cup returns to Germany after a 22-year absence. A decision is officially due this Autumn but reports emerged during the Summer that the DFB wants to hold the final in Berlin and will definitely use five more cities; Dortmund, Hamburg, Gelsenkirchen, Leipzig and Frankfurt. The DFB strongly denies any decision has been made. Sandra Mannel, press spokeswoman at the DFB 2006 organising committee, insisted; "No stadia have been chosen yet. This will be done together with FIFA in approximately Autumn 2002 and between ten and twelve stadia will be selected from the sixteen bidders." The original Gelsenkirchen Park Stadium was built for Germany's last World Cup in 1974 and staged matches at Euro 88 but once Schalke 04 opted to build a new ground, the venue was always expected to be among the favourites. The shell of the Auf Schalke was completed in 2000 and the ground, which features a glass façade and a sliding roof, opened on August 13 with the first international match staged on October 6 as Germany met Finland in a 2002 world cup qualifier. |
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Dutch building giant HBG built the ground after developing the proposal with Schalke 04 and sports agency, Rudiger Schmitz with the design allowing the lower tier of the fourth stand to be moved and a whole section of seats can be slid underneath. HBG's Hein Nanninga explained; "This gives us better spacing for concerts where you do not want seats behind the stage. Instead, seats go in the arena area." HBG recruited North American specialist Birdair to install the distinctive translucent roof and Auf Schalke was installed as a front-runner for the 2006 tournament after FIFA president Sepp Blatter visited the site and said; "It would be a travesty if football isn't played here." Dortmund's Westfalen was also built for the 1974 World Cup, only to be upgraded in 1995; two years later Dortmund lifted the European Cup but the ground really came into its own on May 19 2001, when it staged the final of the UEFA Cup.
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Temporary measures will see the ground's 25,000 capacity standing area - the largest in Europe - converted into 10,000 seats to ensure that the Westfalen can stage matches in 2006. SV Hamburg's Volkspark is ready for the World Cup as the new ground was only completed a year ago and subsequently used for Germany's first match in the 2002 world cup qualifiers, against Greece - the first game played by the German national team in Hamburg since Euro 88. The stadium was built on the site of Hamburg SV's old ground, which was demolished in four stages to accommodate construction of the new ground. Again extra work will be carried out, including an extra 400 VIP seats, before the 2006 tournament. The ground has recently been re-named as the AOL Arena after a DM30m
(£9.5m) deal was agreed with the US media giant but will revert to its
original Volkspark name because FIFA rules ban stadium sponsorship
during World Cups. |
"It would be a travesty if football isn't played here..." FIFA president Sepp Blatter on Auf Schalke. |
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Political pressure is expected to ensure that some matches are played in the old East Germany but this is not the only reason that Leipzig is reportedly a favoured candidate. Construction started last year on a new arena to replace Leipzig's old Zentral Stadium, which was the biggest ground in Germany with a capacity matching the town's 100,000 population. The arena will hold 44,354 with the work being managed by EMKA, the development company that owns the stadium, and scheduled for completion by May 2003. A new ground is also being built in Frankfurt to replace one of Germany's sporting institutions, the Wald Stadium, which was built in 1925 and then renovated before the 1974 World Cup and again prior to Euro 88. After much debate over yet another modernisation, the city council decided to build a new ground and allocated DM40 million (£12.9 million), with the State of Hesse providing another DM80 million (£26.1 million) and the finance being guaranteed by UK sports agency Octagon. The ground will again feature a moveable roof but construction is not expected to start until next year with a completion anticipated by mid-2005. The one German city almost guaranteed to stage matches is Berlin but its proposals have been drawn out and work only started in the summer of 2000 after a series of consultations over the future of a stadium that was built to stage the 1936 Olympic Games. The scheme is being built under a DM473 million (£152.5 million) fixed price contract and is due for completion by 30 June 2004 with the federal government bankrolling the project to the tune of DM383 million (£123.5 million) Another German city widely expected to host matches in 2006 is Munich but plans for a new stadium to cater for its two main clubs, Bayern and 1860, remain in the pipeline. Building a new ground would spell the end for Munich's Olympic Stadium, which recently hosted the Germany vs England clash in the World Cup qualifiers but was built in 1972 for the Olympics. A referendum will be held on October 21 to decide on proposals for a stadium in the Froettmaning area of the city to host both clubs, which would be funded by private investors with the Munich public only having to fund a new underground rail station and exit roads off the nearby autobahn. If agreed, Munich is expected to stage the opening match and one of the semi-finals. Among the other cities vying to host matches, a stadium was completed in Hannover for world exhibition Expo 2000 but a second phase of works will be carried out to roof the Niedersachsen ground and this should be completed by summer 2005. Bremen's Weser Stadium is also being revamped in time for 2006 with DM55m (£17.7m) being spent on lowering the pitch by 2m and adding 10,000 more seats by Autumn 2002, followed by alterations to the north stand in 2002. Upgrading of Bayer Leverkusen's Bay Arena is much smaller with club owner, pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG, providing DM5.5m (£1.7m) to improve media facilities and function suites. Revamps are also planned in Nuremberg, where 4,000 seats will be added to the Franken Stadium and in Kaiserslautern, where the floodlighting system is being renovated. In Munchengladbach, German construction giant Hochtief starts work on 1 May 2002 on a new 45,000 capacity stadium. The project, which will replace the Boekelberg Stadium and is scheduled for completion by Spring 2004 with local side Borussia moving into its new home at the start of the 2004/5 season. Building work will not start until 2002 on another new stadium in Dusseldorf as the municipality is still searching for a designer and a competition is underway with a host of top architects chasing the commission, including US giant HOK. In Koln, the existing Muengersdorfer Stadium is being completely rebuilt but work is not expected to start until December 20 with matches being played during the construction, which must be finished by 2004. Stuttgart's Neckar Arena was built in 1933 and re-named the Gottleib Daimler Stadium 60 years later, when the ground hosted the World Athletics Championships. The ground also staged matches in the 1974 World Cup and Euro 88 and
two phases of reconstruction work are being carried out with the city
council bearing the brunt of the DM96m (£30.9m) costs as Stuttgart,
like the other fifteen cities, tries to improve its chances of hosting
football's biggest event.
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ext year's world cup finals may be a matter of months away but the
race for the 2006 tournament is already nearing a conclusion - not on the field but off it with the 2006 organising committee of the
German football federation, the DFB, expected to unveil a shortlist of
stadia to host the finals by this autumn.
