After the disaster in Chernobyl almost exactly 35 years ago, all open-air events in Salzburg were canceled – but only nine days after the reactor accident. And then the international match against Sweden in the Lehen stadium shook a lot. In the end, however, it was played in front of 13,500 fans.
Due to Corona, amateur sport has been in lockdown for months. At least for a short time, sport in Salzburg also stood still almost exactly 35 years ago. When the Chernobyl nuclear accident occurred on April 26, 1986, nothing at all leaked out from Russia for a long time – except for the atomic poison cloud itself.
The suspension was initially decided for four days
When the extent of the disaster slowly became clear, many countries did not initially know exactly how to deal with it. In any case, Salzburg’s state government decided to ban all open-air events from May 7th to 11th, 1986.
Football, tennis and Co. stood still
The championship rounds in the lower house of football and in tennis, the Urstein regatta of the rowers, the Union meeting in Rif, the motorcycle festival at the Salzburgring and the then still held Salzburg rally through the Pongau were canceled without further ado.
Salzburg closed, Upper Austria did not
That led to some quarrel. Because the ban on outdoor sports was imposed nine days (!) After the disaster – and it did not apply in Upper Austria, Styria or neighboring Freilassing. For example, the majority of the athletes who were already in Rif for the meeting were brought to a competition in Ebensee (Upper Austria).
High costs due to cancellations
The organizers were left with enormous costs (a few hundred thousand schillings in total). But there was even more trouble threatening: the international match against Sweden in the Lehen stadium on May 14, 1986 was on the brink. Before the then mayor Josef Reschen said after the crisis meetings in Chiemseehof: “If the experts allow the international match, the city will have no objection to it.”
Daily radiation measurements in fiefdoms
This is followed by daily radiation measurements in the Lehen stadium, on the stands and on the lawn. But the values did not cause concern. An expert from the professional fire brigade drew the following conclusion at the time: “If the football fans don’t eat grass and don’t lick the concrete floor, the international match is completely harmless.”
A 1-0 win in the rain
In the end, 13,500 fans made the pilgrimage to Lehen for what was then the second official international match in Salzburg. That like the first (the legendary 9-0 against Malta in 1977) ended with a victory for Austria. Reinhard Kienast scored the 1-0 gold goal in the pouring rain. At that time, Leo Lainer, a native of Salzburg, was in the starting line-up.