ÖFB home game against Sweden in June at the Ernst Happel Stadium

Rapid’s Allianz Stadium is not available due to the need for repair work on the lawn in the summer. The club informed the ÖFB about this, the football association confirmed in a broadcast on Monday.

The ÖFB had been given a grace period until Tuesday by UEFA to also explore the possibilities with Rapid. No international match has ever taken place in the Allianz Stadium, which opened in 2016. Both supporters and residents have always expressed concerns, which the club has followed. However, Rangnick had recently campaigned for a rethink, especially since the lack of home game atmosphere in the spacious Happel oval is a thorn in the side of the German.

The two opening games of the European Championship qualifier on Friday against Azerbaijan and the following Monday against Estonia will take place in the new Raiffeisen Arena in Linz. After the guest appearance at Favorit Belgium in Brussels (June 17), the home game against Sweden could be trend-setting. The ÖFB had also felt Salzburg as a possible venue for this, but there too a cancellation was made due to the lawn care required during the season break.

No information on time horizon

Bernhard Neuhold, Managing Director of ÖFB Wirtschaftsbetriebe GmbH, had a final conversation with Rapid Managing Director Steffen Hofmann on Monday afternoon. “We have agreed that we will remain in dialogue,” said Neuhold of the APA – Austria Press Agency. “What you can take away is that there is a functioning basis for discussion. Everyone involved has signaled that they want to continue the discussion.”

With appropriate signals from Rapid, there is still great interest from the ÖFB in using the stadium as an international match location. However, Neuhold did not want to give any information about a time horizon for a possible ÖFB premiere in Hütteldorf. “It would be dubious to set any deadlines. We will give Rapid time to discuss the issues as necessary.” In addition, “due to the load on the lawn, a time window would have to be defined” in which the stadium could be available.

In a broadcast, Rapid reported on “numerous internal rounds of talks on the subject of hosting an ÖFB international match on June 20 in the Allianz Stadium”. In addition to the pros, the home ground is also used by Rapid II in the 2nd division, as in Salzburg by FC Liefering. In June, “numerous care and regeneration measures for the lawn” would therefore be on the agenda, it said. If Rapid doesn’t win the cup and has to play fifth in the European Cup play-off, the last home game of the season could be on June 11th.

“Team needs the best possible support”

Even before the phone call between Hofmann and Neuhold, the “Kronen Zeitung” had given a conversion of the boxes planned for the summer as the reason for Rapid’s no to the Sweden game – which both the club and the ÖFB rejected. “I assured Ralf Rangnick in a personal conversation that I would continue to support Austria’s home games at the Allianz Stadium. Because our most important team needs the best possible support,” the newspaper quoted Rapids board member Michael Tojner, a major donor to the club .

The City of Vienna subsidized the construction of the Allianz Stadium with around 20 million euros. International matches in Hütteldorf have not been free of background noise in the past. The last games of the ÖFB team in the west of Vienna – 2007 in the old Hanappi Stadium – were overshadowed by abuse for the ex-Rapidler Andreas Ivanschitz. Fan problems should be avoided as far as possible in further attempts. Neuhold: “It is always based on the premise that there is a broad commitment from Rapid.”