Where does BFC Dynamo Hohenschönhausen play its home games in the event of promotion to the third division? There should be no third division stadium in the Lichtenberg district, as the city councilor for sports and the Senate administration told the Tagesspiegel. The home arena in Hohenschönhausen, the Sportforum, is being remodeled by the city of Berlin.
In the Lichtenberg derby on February 26 in the Northeast Regional Football League, SV Lichtenberg 47 won 1-0 against BFC Dynamo, the traditional club from Hohenschönhausen, a district of Berlin-Lichtenberg.
Even before the kick-off, the players of both teams made a statement against the war that had broken out in Ukraine in front of around 2,000 spectators. The 47ers ran onto the pitch with a banner that read “Stop the War” and then there was a minute’s silence.
However, the BFC remains at the top of the Berlin league and is aiming for promotion to the third division. Since promotion to the regional league, the club has not played its home games in Hohenschönhausen, but in the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark in Pankow.
The games have only been taking place in the Sportforum again since the beginning of the year, as the Jahn Sportpark is to be renovated and the operating license expired at the end of the year. But the sports forum is also to be extensively rebuilt.
The current stadium in the Sportforum Hohenschönhausen with its current 12,400 seats is not suitable for the third division. For this purpose, among other things, a lawn heating, a floodlight system and seats would have to be installed. However, the district and senate administration have not yet planned to expand the stadium for the third division.
Left faction for BFC stadium in Lichtenberg
“We have not planned a stadium for the third division in Lichtenberg,” Lichtenberg’s sports councilor Filiz Keküllüoğlu told the Tagesspiegel when asked. “We need a cross-district solution.”
The left faction in Lichtenberg, however, would like to support a BFC stadium in the district. The parliamentary group will submit a corresponding application to the next district assembly (BVV), as parliamentary group member Antonio Leonhardt tweeted on Tuesday.
Locations for a third division stadium are being examined throughout Berlin
The application, which was exclusively available to the Tagesspiegel, says: “The district office is requested to lobby the Senate of Berlin to ensure that the BFC Dynamo’s interest in a stadium suitable for the third division is taken into account when planning the redesign of the sports forum and financing of the necessary conversion measures is being examined by the Senate of Berlin.” It is in the interest of the district to keep the football tradition of BFC Dynamo at the location.
However, Claudia Engelmann, for the Lichtenberger Linke in the House of Representatives, emphasized that the sports forum was a state matter. “There is a master plan. This will be dealt with promptly in the sports committee with a hearing from the district. Locations for a third-league stadium are currently being examined across Berlin. We have to wait and see.”
Petition for preservation of the sports forum
A petition for the preservation of the stadium was started on change.org, which has already been signed by around 8,000 people. There it says: “A club needs a permanent home in which it can develop, grow and thrive. In this context, it cannot be a solution for the club to play its games at different locations in the city.” Many club members, coaches and parents are worried about the future of the youth sector.
What are the stadium plans of the Senate Department for the Interior, Digitization and Sport? When asked, they said: “The Jahn Stadium is available as a venue for professional football in the event of promotion to the 3rd division.” For a realignment of the Sportforum as a national top sports center, an urban planning open space competition was launched in 2020. The results are in. The Senate administration does not want to present these to the public until the end of the year. In addition to an athletics hall for winter sports and an archery facility, the construction of a “sports function building for football” should also be part of the planning.
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A spokesman for the Senate administration says: “Football – not only for the BFC – plays an important role in the planning. The good club work of the BFC Dynamo eV – especially in the youth sector – is known to the internal administration and has been honored and recognized several times in many places. Considerable investments have been made in the sports infrastructure in recent years.”
BFC is always conspicuous by racism
City Councilor for Sports Keküllüoğlu adds: “I will continue to support Dynamo’s children’s and youth divisions as much as we can in the future.”
Traditionally, the BFC does not always present itself from the best side. Fans, players and the management level are repeatedly conspicuous by racism and relativization, as most recently in September 2021 in the game against Leipzig.
“Of course that’s a problem,” admits Antonio Leonhardt from the left. But things have improved and the association does a lot for migrant children, especially in youth work. “In any case, that should be separated from the question of whether we need a third division stadium at the location. Racism is combated through decisive action by the club management, money for fan projects, etc. and not by the club simply no longer playing in the Sportforum.”
