Following the fire at Basel's St. Jakob-Park on Friday evening, the 1st team's dressing room has been completely destroyed. FCB media manager Simon Walter talks to blue Sport about the current situation.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- A fire broke out in Basel's St. Jakob-Park on Friday evening. It was extinguished by the Basel professional and militia fire department. No persons were injured.
- The fire destroyed the entire dressing room of the FC Basel 1st team, as FCB media manager Simon Walter confirmed in an interview with blue Sport.
- It was not possible to prepare for the match due to the destroyed equipment. FCB's match against FC Thun on Saturday evening was canceled.
- It is still not clear how the fire started. The cause is currently under investigation.
At around 9.15 pm on Friday evening, the professional fire department of the Basel-Stadt rescue service and the militia fire department were called out to a major operation at the St. Jakob-Park stadium, as reported by the Basel-Stadt public prosecutor's office on Saturday. The reason: a fire in the dressing room.
The situation the day after
The fire with heavy smoke caused considerable damage and completely destroyed the entire dressing room area of the 1st team. Among other things, the dressing rooms, equipment rooms and all player and coaching materials were affected. The coach's office, the team manager's office, the physio areas, showers and sanitary facilities were also damaged.
The home wing was particularly badly affected, FCB media manager Simon Walter confirmed to blue Sport (see video above). "It looks pretty bad. Everything is completely covered in soot. Where you would assume the main source of the fire is actually total damage all around."
The entire catacomb is so badly sooted that everything that was down there has probably been lost, he explains. "Complete match preparation is not possible. All the player material, the training material, the coaching material - it's all lost. It was all ready to be transported."
The away game in Thun on Saturday evening has now been postponed. According to the league, FC Basel currently has no operational match and medical equipment available. The SFL management therefore granted a corresponding request from the club and approved the postponement due to force majeure. The match will instead take place next Saturday, April 18 at 8.30 pm.
"The smoke and soot have gotten everywhere. And this soot is highly toxic. You simply can't catch it in a hurry. The main problem is the shoes. They have to be broken in and every player has his own shoes. You can't just go to the store and buy a new pair," explains Walter.
What was the cause of the fire?
It is still not clear what caused the fire. "At the moment, we have to assume that it was caused by a technical defect. But where and what exactly is not clear," says Walter.
The entire area has now been sealed off by the public prosecutor's office. "Basically, nobody is allowed down there anymore. The cause of the fire is now being investigated."
The fire was discovered by two FCB employees. "They were still in team fitness down in the stadium. One of them then noticed that a fire had broken out. They immediately alerted the fire department. Because it happened so quickly, it was possible to prevent the worst."
When will FCB be able to train and play again?
After the match was called off on Saturday, the aim is to resume training operations as soon as possible, explains Walter. "We can train on the youth campus from next week. Now we have to see how we can make up for it with the equipment we need. From player equipment to physio, fitness and the medical department, we're starting from scratch everywhere."
The first team should be able to train again on Monday, confirms the Basel media manager. However, it is still unclear how the match operations will continue. "We will be able to cope with the away games. But the next home game will be a challenge. The main dressing room and the entire catacomb wing have been completely destroyed. We'll have to make alternative arrangements and we're currently working on finding solutions."
