Post SV sounds the alarm

1,500 children fear for their sporting home

The Post SV facility covers almost 16 hectares in the middle of the 17th district. It is unthinkable that it could disappear.(Bild: Mario Urbantschitsch)

With its 16 hectares, the Post SV facility in Vienna's 17th district is the largest contiguous sports facility in the capital. But now the 4,000 members have to fear for their sporting home. The contract expires in 2027. Will the eleven sections with their more than 100 teams and their traditional sports facility have to make way for a housing project?

It's a real sword of Damocles hanging over Vienna's sport. After all, the future of Post SV and its huge, almost 16-hectare home ground in the 17th district is massively at risk beyond 2027. The situation is complex. But in a nutshell, the landowner Post AG and the City of Vienna are at odds over the future use (housing?) of the site.

Scenes like this could soon be a thing of the past in the 17th district.(Bild: zVg)

The fatal consequences this could have for sport in the Austrian capital - which is already in the Stone Age in terms of infrastructure - can be guessed from a few figures. Post SV has 4,000 members, and 1,500 children and young people alone have their home on the largest contiguous sports area in Vienna. A total of eleven sections (including soccer, tennis, field hockey, handball, beach volleyball, volleyball, basketball...) practice their sports on the grounds (also at national league and second league level). The facilities include a natural grass pitch, two artificial turf pitches, a field hockey pitch, three sports halls, four beach courts and 43 tennis courts (an Austrian record).

The Post SV facility is a small 16-hectare site in the middle of the city.(Bild: Mario Urbantschitsch)

Should the grounds no longer be available for club sport at the end of 2027 (when the current contract expires), more than 1,000 training hours and more than 250 hours for championship matches would be lost in one fell swoop - per week! More than 100 teams would be left out in the cold.

An additional problem: due to the uncertainty and unpredictability, some urgently needed renovations and future investments (for example, a padel tennis project had to be canceled) simply cannot be carried out and risked.

The "Krone" went to see for itself with Managing Director Clemens Rarrel (left) and Chairman Felix Weigel (right).(Bild: Mario Urbantschitsch)

The "Krone" went on a walk around the site with Chairman Felix Weigel and Managing Director Clemens Rarrel in search of possible solutions. The first and most important step really does seem possible. "Post AG, the City of Vienna and Post SV should sit down at the same table," says Rarrel, hoping for a round-table discussion. But so far there have been either no answers or empty promises from Post AG to MA51 (Sports Department) to Sports Minister Werner Kogler. Chairman Weigel: "We don't know what will happen next. That's the biggest challenge." In times like these, when the lack of sports facilities in Austria is an ongoing issue, a clear commitment and a sports showcase could be a monument.