City of Vienna sees stadium plans 'as far back as a boy's dream'

Governor Christopher Drexler has stirred up the debate by wanting to bring a new national stadium to Styria, which Chancellor and ÖVP colleague Karl Nehammer envisioned in his “Plan Austria” by 2030.

“At the moment, we are still within the dimension of the boys’ dreams,” Peter Hacker, a sports advisor at the SPÖ in Vienna, said on Friday on ORF channel ZiB 1. For him, it's about “setting clear and organized achievable steps.”

The Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, where the Austrian national football team plays its most important home matches, is the country's largest stadium with a seating capacity of 48,500, but it no longer meets the latest requirements.

“I support this happening in Styria.”

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ÖFB has been pushing for a new arena to be built for years. Recently, team president Ralf Rangnick also discussed the topic in personal conversations with Nehammer and Vice-Chancellor and Sports Minister Werner Kugler (Greens).

Three weeks ago, Drexler floated the Unterpremstätten area near Graz as a possible location. “Not everything has to be in Vienna,” stressed the state leader, who is likely to run in the state elections in November.

“If the federal government is going to invest money in building a national stadium, I am of course in favor of this happening in Styria.” Nehammer commented on the Styria initiative by saying: “It is good that there are many interested parties and that the discussion is gaining momentum.”

Kugler criticizes the lack of concept of traffic

Kugler wants to push the project forward in Vienna, and above all, what the Styrian idea is missing is a proper transportation concept.

“We will not solve the problem with a few shuttle buses,” the Green Party leader told ORF. In principle, the initiative will have a positive effect in that “the federal capital, Vienna, will move much faster than has been the case so far,” Kugler said.

However, the people at Vienna City Hall were cautious. “Right now, everyone dreams of having their state's national stadium on their doorstep,” Hacker said. According to a structural analysis of the roof and construction of Hubble Stadium presented by his administration in the fall, it will be usable for another four to five decades.

To date, no stakeholders or parties have provided specific information about the potential costs of the new building. However, it is likely to be in the mid-three-digit million-euro range.

ÖFB is currently building a training center in Vienna-Aspern. The federal government and the City of Vienna are financing the infrastructure project, which costs just over 70 million euros, with 23.14 million euros. The largest sports federation in Austria is raising the remaining amount of 24 million euros itself.

Here you go! Pictures from the first appearance of ÖFB training