Merkur-Arena

The Liebenauer Stadium, sponsored as the Merkur-Arena (formerly known as the Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium and UPC-Arena) is in the Liebenau area of Graz, Styria, Austria. The ground is the home of the football clubs SK Sturm Graz and Grazer AK.

History

Originally, the stadium was named after bodybuilder, actor and former governor of the U.S. state of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was born near Graz. It was built from 1996 to early 1997 and is owned by Stadion Liebenau Betriebs GmbH. It opened with the game Grazer AK vs. SK Sturm Graz on 9 July 1997 (0:4).

In December 2005, when Schwarzenegger did not stop the execution of Stanley Tookie Williams, an intense discussion in his hometown began about what to do with the stadium that bore his name. After some days, Schwarzenegger revoked the city of Graz's right to the use of his name, ending the debate. On the night of 26 December 2005 the name was removed from the stadium. The remaining part Stadion Graz-Liebenau was removed on 17 February 2006 and on 18 February 2006 the stadium was renamed to UPC-Arena. In March 2016 the Austrian insurance company Merkur Versicherung secured the rights to bear a name and the stadium was renamed to Merkur-Arena.

This page also has a version in other languages :  UPC-Арена (russian)