By David Gold
January 15 – FIFA appear set to withdraw funding towards a new stadium being built in Zurich, the home of world football’s governing body.
FIFA has indicated that it will not support the project because of plans to keep areas for standing.
“In principle, FIFA does not support any project which does not correspond to its philosophy,” FIFA told Reuters.
“In respect to the planned stadium construction in Zurich, that means that if the plans are maintained to reserve some places for standing fans, FIFA must rethink its commitment to the promised 20 million Swiss francs (£13.7 million/$20.9 million/€16.6 million).
“FIFA is convinced that all-seater stadiums guarantee more comfort and, above all, more safety.”
FIFA do not allow stadia with standing to be used for their competitions, and the safety issue is particularly critical in Switzerland, which has a serious hooligan problem.
In recent years a number of incidents have taken place at matches in the country involving the fans of Lucerne, Young Boys, Sion and FC Basel, which has led to alcohol sales being restricted, increased police presence and greater surveillance.
Still its clubs have problems though, with a game between the two Zurich clubs, FC Zurich and Grasshoppers, having to be abandoned in October after troubled flared.
The teams involved along with the Swiss authorities have been discussing how to tackle the problem, which has left powerbrokers in the country scratching their heads.
The ground in Zurich, which would be used by the city’s two major teams, is due to open in 2017 and seat up to 19,000 spectators.
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