UEFA delegate reports to HQ as shocking Sturm Graz vs Rangers footage revealed – ‘Wow’
Sturm Graz face a mad rush to get ready to welcome Rangers to Austria in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Russell Martin’s Rangers head to Sturm Graz in the hope of building on their first Scottish Premiership win of the season against Livingston on Sunday.
Rangers’ Europa League campaign kicked off last week against Genk at Ibrox in typically poor fashion as that game ended up a 1-0 defeat for the Gers, who had Mohamed Diomande sent off.
Derek Ferguson is among those to have criticised Diomande for his red card against Genk, with the midfielder now banned for this week’s showdown with Sturm Graz, who lost their opener against Midtjylland.
However, Diomande’s ban is only one of many things Martin will have to worry about going into Thursday night’s match in Austria.
Keith Hackett expects Sturm Graz to fix up pitch before Rangers clash
On Wednesday afternoon, journalist Andy Newport shared footage on X that showed Sturm Graz’s pitch in a state of disrepair ahead of playing Rangers.
The Merkur-Arena has recently been hit by heavy rain, leading to areas of the field looking as though the Glasgow Warriors have been playing on it.
Former Premier League and FIFA-listed referee Keith Hackett believes that the game should still be good to go ahead.
However, speaking exclusively to Ibrox News, Hackett admitted that UEFA will have been made aware of the state of the playing surface and Graz will be expected to fix things up before they kick off against Rangers at 8pm on Thursday.
“Wow, the condition of this playing surface is very poor and will have been inspected today (Wednesday) by the UEFA Match Delegate and reported back to UEFA HQ with photographs,” said Hackett.
“Clearly, they have had some poor weather for the pitch surface to be in this condition.
“Sturm Graz have a long history in UEFA competitions…they will be expected to carry out some remedial work before kick-off.”
What Sturm Graz manager Jurgen Samuel has said about awful pitch
It’s been a quarter of a century since Rangers last played Sturm Graz, when the Merkur-Arena was then called the Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium.
Dick Advocaat‘s side lost 2-0 on that occasion, but Martin will be hoping for the opposite to happen this week in order to alleviate some of the pressure lingering over him after a record-breaking bad start to life at Ibrox.
However, whether that happens or not could rest on the Merkur-Arena’s choppy pitch, which is due to be replaced during the upcoming international break.
| Opponent | Competition | Result | Date |
| Bodo/Glimt (A) | Champions League play-off | 5-0 (L) | 20 August |
| Bodo/Glimt (H) | Champions League play-off | 2-1 (W) | 26 August |
| Midtjylland (A) | Europa League league phase | 2-0 (L) | 24 September |
Speaking ahead of playing the Ibrox giants, Sturm Graz manager Jurgen Samuel admitted that there are issues with his team’s playing surface.
“It is true that we had a few problems with the pitch on the weekend,” said the Graz manager in his pre-match press conference.
“[In the 1-0 win against Hartberg on Sunday], we had a lot of possession, we spent a lot of time in the final third. It is true that in a situation like that, a game like that, the pitch can make a big difference. You want to have a good pitch.
“There are other games that are different and playing in Europe against a strong opponent, I don’t think the pitch will have any role for us personally. We will give it our all.”
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