Soon international competitions in Wankdorf again!

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It was clear to everyone that no major event such as a European football championship could take place without the federal capital as the venue. In particular, the mayor of Bern, Alec von Graffenried: “One euro without Bern is unthinkable,” he told Sunday’s newspaper. Therefore, a candidacy without Switzerland’s most football-crazy city was never considered at this point.

But that meant: Goodbye artificial grass! “It was a condition for Bern’s application as a host city,” explains SFV communications chief Adrian Arnold. Bern has given corresponding guarantees that the match will be played on natural grass.

YB puts light pressure on the city

So far so good. However, the city of Bern cannot give these guarantees without having reached an agreement with the owner of the Wankdorf stadium. And that is – exceptionally in Switzerland – not the city, but the football club, namely YB. The club has artificial turf in its stadium, where two group stages of the Champions League have already been played. The plastic should not give YB a competitive advantage, but allow the Bernese, who do not have their own training center, to keep the majority of the units in the stadium.

It goes without saying that the Berner Sport Club is now demanding guarantees from the city regarding training opportunities on natural grass. “The necessary change to natural grass can only be made if a full-fledged alternative solution for training operations can be found close to the stadium,” said Albert Staudenmann, head of communications at YB. “YB’s first team must be able to prepare intensively for possible European competitions and the championship in June/July 2025.”

YB would like to play on natural grass

And he takes the wind out of the sails of the deliberately sought competitive advantage by emphasizing that YB would love to play on natural grass if a training ground worthy of professional football is found.

And here the city comes into play again. So what about this solution, Alec von Graffenried? “YB must of course be able to train during this time. A replacement solution is needed. Together with YB, the city looks for solutions – and finds them!» And then? “In general, the city needs more football pitches because the sport is booming. Also because more and more girls are throwing away’, says the green Stapi. And that is where you will find a permanent solution together with YB.

Stapi Von Graffenried: “The final must be in Bern”

And the 60-year-old emphasizes something else: “The 2008 European Championship final was in Vienna. At a European Championship in Switzerland, the final must of course take place in Bern, just like the World Cup final in 1954. But that is clear in any case … »

Swiss football fans will also be delighted with the natural grass. Because from now on international matches are finally possible again in the former Stade de Suisse. “It’s a win-win situation, because the association has always wanted to play in Bern again,” says Arnold. Because Bern is the federal capital. Because of history. And because of the central location of Bern.

Source : Blick