Sunday April 11th 2021
“100 percent not possible”
Lahm: Munich is planning a half-full EM stadium
So far, the city of Munich has been one of the venues for the European Football Championship in summer. That could change because UEFA is putting pressure on it. The main point of contention is the stadium utilization. But Philipp Lahm, as head of the DFB organization, is optimistic – and realistic.
With business games up to a half-filled stadium, Munich wants to save its EM games this summer. After UEFA initially refused the Bavarian capital to host the four games on Friday, the German Football Association has to refine its concepts by April 19. Former world champion and current head of organization Philipp Lahm has now announced the direction in which the DFB is working. The hope for tens of thousands of fans in the Allianz Arena is still there.
“There are many different scenarios. I think 100 percent utilization will not be possible, you have to be that realistic,” said Lahm on the radio station “Antenne Bayern”. “Everything else might be possible. That is why we are planning from zero viewers to 50 percent viewers,” he said on the program “Sunday Breakfast”. So far, the DFB and Munich had not revealed what the Munich scenarios for the summer look like in concrete terms.
Budapest wants a full stadium
However, UEFA announced on Friday that Munich, where all group matches for the German national team are to take place, is one of the four hosts who have to submit “additional information” by April 19 for the matches to take place. Only then will a decision be made about the alignment of the planned batches at the relevant locations under corona conditions.
The key point is the admission of viewers who have already promised eight European Championship cities. Among them is the stadium in Budapest, which the Hungarians want to fully occupy with 68,000 fans. In Baku one assumes a half-filled arena and thus around 30,000 spectators. As many fans as possible should also find space in London’s Wembley Stadium as the final venue. Ghost games are taboo for UEFA.
“Hope dies Last”
Lahm was optimistic that Munich could also follow the example of the other World Cup cities and remain an EM location. “Hope dies last, as the saying goes. We have to stay tuned and work for it,” he said in the pre-recorded broadcast. According to the broadcaster, the statements were authorized by the UEFA announcement on Friday, even after the current development.
After the UEFA damper, DFB General Secretary Friedrich Curtius said that he still believed in the success of the German concepts. “We want to be there, we will be there, and I am very optimistic that we will get a corresponding confirmation on April 19,” he said in the ARD sports show.
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