UEFA Euro 2008 – Woerthersee Stadium (Hypo-Arena)

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Hypo-Arena (well-known as Woerthersee Stadium) is a multi-use stadium that is found in the south-west end of the city of Klagenfurt in Austria.
Surrounded by meadows and hills, with the Karawanken mountains as a backdrop – there can be no more spectacular location for a new football stadium anywhere. Woerthersee Stadium is the most modern football arena. Hypo-Arena will host Group B of Ero 2008 matches between Germany, Poland and Croatia. It will be one of the 8 stadiums hosting the 2008 European Football Championship. Woerthersee Stadium is the home ground of SK Austria Kärnten. FC Kärnten were formed in 2007 after taking over the license of existing Austrian Bundesliga side ASKÖ Pasching. Three of the top teams in Europe will be playing in the new Klagenfurt European championship stadium for a place in the quarter finals of Euro 2008. Hypo-Arena has been chosen to host matches from Group B being:

8 th June 20:45 – Germany vs Poland
12 th June 18:00 – Croatia vs Germany
16 th June 20:45 – Poland vs Croatia

The old stadium, known as the Wörtherseestadion, was built in 1960, 5km from the Klagenfurt city centre and had a capacity of 10,900. In 2005 the existing stadium was demolished and replaced by the new Hypo-Arena, also known until 30 June 2007 by the name “Wörtherseestadion“. The new stadium has capacity upgraded to 32,000. It was opened with a match between Austria and Japan on September 7th 2007 in front of 26,500 spectators.

Austria has invested millions in green infrastructure for the event – and the rewards are already obvious. The Woerthersee Stadium is architecturally the most beautiful stadium of Austria. The team of architects wanted to build a compact stadium that would perfectly blend and tie in with the superb lake and Alpine landscape. And they achieved their goal. The locals of the city nicknamed the stadium “UFO”, due to its compact and unique design.

Wörthersee Stadium has received a Green Ball for its planned introduction of the EMAS (Environmental Management System) before kick-off of the European Football Championships in June 2008. The Green Ball is green both outside and in. It was commissioned through Jugend eine Welt (a global youth charity), is fair-trade certified, guaranteed PVC free and has a natural latex inner tube.

Constructed as a multifunctional stadium according to the model of the St. Jakob-Park in Basel, it is part of the Sportpark Klagenfurt. Along with the stadium, an adjacent sports park contains a hotel, business facilities and a shopping centre. The Hypo-Arena includes also health and leisure amenities, and restaurants. There will be large numbers of turnstiles equipped with bar code readers at the entry points. There will also be sufficient numbers of kiosks, WCs and buffets.

The Wörthersee Stadium is easily accessible by means of public transport. It can be reached by bus from the main station, it is just 5 km away from the city centre and 15 km away from the airport. In 2009 the stadium will become a 12,000 venue, with the surplus stands to be used in other stadiums around Austria.