Wörthersee Stadion (), known as 28 Black Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used for multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a design philosophy that stres ...

located in Klagenfurt, Austria. It is the home ground of

Austria Klagenfurt Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, of which the capital Vienna is the most populous city and state. Austria is bordered by Ger ...

. The stadium is situated within the Sportpark Klagenfurt campus of several other sports venues. Its name refers to the nearby

Wörthersee Wörthersee (; Slovene: ''Vrbsko jezero'', ) is a lake in the southern Austrian state of Carinthia. The bathing lake is a main tourist destination in summer. Geography Wörthersee is Carinthia's largest lake. It is elongated, about long and ...

lake.

Overview

The first Wörtherseestadion was built in 1960 as the home ground of the old SK Austria Klagenfurt (the later defunct

FC Kärnten FC Kärnten was an Football in Austria, Austrian association football club based in Klagenfurt, Carinthia (state), Carinthia. It was founded in 1920 under the name of KSK Klagenfurt. History Austria Klagenfurt Austria Klagenfurt played success ...

), a track and field stadium with a capacity of 10,900. In 1962 the team was first promoted to the

Austrian Football Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

(then called ''A-Liga'') and until their final relegation in 1989 regularly attracted thousands of spectators. A second attempt by the FC Kärnten to enter the Bundesliga, backed by the Carinthian governor

Jörg Haider Jörg Haider (; 26 January 1950 – 11 October 2008) was an Austrian politician. He was Governor of Carinthia on two occasions, the long-time leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and later Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Au ...

, was successful in 2001. The team was again relegated in 2004, nevertheless in view of the coming

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

the Carinthian government resolved upon the reconstruction of the stadium. It was demolished from 2005 and replaced by the larger Hypo-Arena, named after the sponsoring

Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank International Heta Asset Resolution A.G. is a " bad bank" that was the residual asset of the original Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank International A.G., which was dismantled in 2014. It was owned by the Government of Austria. The bad bank contained the leasing subsidi ...

. Football matches were temporarily staged at the

Sportzentrum Fischl The Sportzentrum Fischl is a soccer stadium in Klagenfurt. It has a capacity of 3,000 people. Currently the Red-Zac team FC Kärnten FC Kärnten was an Football in Austria, Austrian association football club based in Klagenfurt, Carinthia ...

grounds. The Hypo-Arena was one of eight stadiums hosting the 2008 European Football Championship, for which it was built to hold 32,000. It was considered whether the stadium should be reduced to the capacity of 22,000 after the event. The official opening was on 7 September 2007 and hosted a friendly between

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in front of 26,500 spectators. To ensure an economical percentage of seats sold, Haider had contrived the relocation of the Bundesliga team

ASKÖ Pasching ASKÖ Pasching was an Football in Austria, Austrian football (soccer), football club based in Pasching, Upper Austria. The club in its later stages was also known under the sponsorship derived names SV PlusCity Pasching and, from 2003 until its en ...

to Klagenfurt, where, from the 2007–08 season, it played under the name

SK Austria Kärnten SK Austria Kärnten was an Austrian association football club, from Klagenfurt, Carinthia. History The club was formed on 1 June 2007 and took over the license of ASKÖ Pasching to play in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. SK Austria took ov ...

until its bankruptcy in 2010. On 16 September 2009 the Carinthian government and Austrian Sport Minister

Norbert Darabos Norbert Darabos (born 31 May 1964) is an Austrian politician. Currently, he serves as the president of the Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution (ASPR). From 2007 to 2013, he served as Minister of National Defence under the cha ...

agreed to basically maintain the stadium's capacity. After the fitout it accommodates 18,000 visitors watching the Austrian Football League and 30,000 attending international matches and other major events. The lower tier of the South Stand is fitted with rail seats for

safe standing Safe standing is a measure of design in stadia to ensure that spectators are able to stand safely during events. It is important in the context of football in the United Kingdom, association football in the United Kingdom, where a series of fatal ...

. Upon the turbulences around the Hypo Group Alpe Adria, the stadium was renamed Wörtherseestadion in 2010. From August 2015 till January 2016 the upper stands were closed because of a court decision, which reduced the capacity to 12,000. On 21 July 2018, Wörthersee Stadion hosted a

2018 International Champions Cup The 2018 International Champions Cup was the sixth edition of a tournament comprising a series of friendly association football matches. It began on July 20 and ended on August 11. The tournament was won by English club Tottenham Hotspur. Teams ...

match between

FC Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional association foo ...

and

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

. FC Bayern Munich won 3–1.

Euro 2008

The Wörthersee Stadion hosted 3 matches of the

''For Forest'' by Klaus Littmann

The stadium was the site of

Klaus Littmann Klaus is a German, Dutch and Scandinavian given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name Nicholas. Notable persons whose family name is Klaus * Billy Klaus (1928–2006), American baseba ...

's ''For Forest–The Unending Attraction of Nature'', Austria's largest public art installation which took place from

8 September Events Pre-1600 * 70 – After the capture of Herod's Palace the previous day, a Roman army under Titus secures and plunders the city of Jerusalem. * 617 – Battle of Huoyi: Li Yuan defeats a Sui dynasty army, opening the path to h ...

27 October Events Pre-1600 *312 – Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross. * 1275 – Traditional founding of the city of Amsterdam. * 1524 – French troops lay siege to Pavia. * 1553 – Condemn ...

2019. The exhibition, inspired by Max Peintner's pencil drawing ''The Unending Attraction of Nature'' from the 1970s and landscaped by architect Enzo Enea, was a 300-tree

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

occupying an entire

football pitch A football pitch or soccer field is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is ty ...

. The project was a warning that nature in general and specifically forests might be confined to specially designated spaces if humanity continued to take it for granted. Partly funded by sponsors who each contributed

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

5,000, it was open to the public free of charge daily from 10am to 10pm

CET CET or cet may refer to: Places * Cet, Albania * Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus * Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England Arts, entertainment, and media * Comcast En ...

. Austria Klagenfurt home matches were temporarily played at the adjacent Karawankenblick Stadion. The trees were replanted in locations near the campus following the exhibition's conclusion.

New name

In July 2022 the stadium was renamed in 28 Black Arena. 28 Black is an energy drink manufacturer who sponsors Austria Klagenfurt. www.sn.at/sport/
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References

External links