Gwangju FC will be able to host the Asian Football Confederation Champions League Elite (ACLE) match on its home turf.
According to the Korea Professional Football Federation, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has approved Gwangju’s hosting of the fifth round of the 2024-2025 ACLE League Stage East Asian Group home game against Shanghai Shenhua (China) that will take place on July 27. As a result, Gwangju will play the match against Shanghai at the Gwangju World Cup Stadium.
Gwangju played the third ACLE match against Johor Darlle Takjim (Malaysia) at Yongin Mir Stadium, located in Yongin City, not Gwangju, on the 22nd of last month. At that time, AFC decided that it was impossible to proceed with the game normally on the grass of the seriously damaged Gwangju World Cup Stadium and demanded a change of the stadium. Gwangju, which could not find the stadium in the region, eventually had to move to Yongin, about 268km from its home stadium and about three hours by car, to play.
It was a waste in every way. Gwangju, which is already in a bad financial situation, has to endure a large amount of unnecessary expenditures, including rental fees. What’s worse, the mobilization of spectators was also sluggish due to rain. The crowd had the lowest number of spectators (2,101) among East Asian group matches. Gwangju coach Lee Jung-hyo also showed stress over playing at home games in Yongin. 카지노사이트
It was a difficult time, but fortunately, Gwangju was able to host the home game. Gwangju Metropolitan City is known to have made efforts to recover the grass in many ways. The damaged grass area was provided with health care, and the game was raised to a level where it was possible through nutritional supplements and fertilizer spraying. AFC inspected the World Cup Stadium last week and concluded that there was no problem with the game’s progress.
However, it is not known whether Gwangju will play all of its remaining home games at the Gwangju World Cup Stadium. A federation official said, “After this match, if the grass is in bad condition, criticism may come out again. We will have to watch the situation after the match.” As AFC is also closely monitoring the situation, continuous management will be needed.