Players of Freiburg in the game against Borussia Dortmund at the Schwarzwald-Stadion, October 5, 2019. /VCG Photo
SC Freiburg of Bundesliga heard some bad news this week about their new stadium – the club are forbidden from hosting games there during four of the most popular periods of the German football league, because of noise concerns.
The new stadium, which cost Freiburg some 76 million euros (about 84.5 million U.S. dollars), will have a capacity of 35,000 seats and is expected to be put into use from the 2020-21 season.
However, local residents were not happy about this new construction, worrying that it may cause inconveniences such as adding extra pressure to traffic and the environment. Therefore, the residents took the case to the administrative court of Baden-Württemberg. In the end, the court ruled that Freiburg can only hold games at the new stadium from 8:00 to 20:00 on weekdays and from 9:00 to 13:00, 15:00 to 20:00 on Sundays.
Fans of Freiburg cheer for their home team in the game against Borussia Dortmund at the Schwarzwald-Stadion, October 5, 2019. /VCG Photo
That gave the club a real headache. Currently, the Bundesliga has six timetables for games and four of them won't work for Freiburg if the rule is implemented: 20:30 on Fridays, 18:30 on Saturdays, 13:30 on Sundays and 20:30 on Mondays.
Though the club can choose 15:30 on Saturdays for kickoff, it will only be available for Bundesliga fixtures, not European competitions. Freiburg currently rank No. 6 in Bundesliga and they hope to make the UEFA Europa League next season if they can keep this ranking. Imagine how much extra effort and time will be wasted if the team have to move between two stadiums for different games.
According to Bavarian Football Works, the verdict against Freiburg is based on outdated noise standards, and the judges acknowledged the mistake. So there should be still hope for the club to play at their new stadium at the best time.