RB Leipzig’s DFB Cup match against Teutonia Ottensen is questionable. The host’s stadium will probably not be able to play because the pitch has been damaged by a toxic substance.

The staging of the DFB Cup match between regional football league team Teutonia Ottensen and defending champion RB Leipzig on 30 August is in doubt after the turf at the Dessau venue was contaminated. Unknown persons have dumped an apparently poisonous substance on the grass of the Paul Griffin Stadium, which has severely affected it. The police confirmed this to MDR. First Bild had reported.

“You can’t play the way it looks now,” Benjamin Völker from the sports promotion department of the city of Dessau told MDR. Both penalty areas and the area around the centre circle are particularly affected. “This is dead turf that will not grow back any time soon. We are looking for a solution with everyone involved. A decision will definitely have to be made this week,” said Völker. The spots affected by the attack are brown instead of green. The police are investigating for damage to property.

Ottensen wanted to play the match in Dessau, almost 400 km away, because the search for a stadium in and around Hamburg proved difficult. The second-division clubs FC St. Pauli and Hamburger SV did not want to make their stadium available for a match in Leipzig. Ottensen is not allowed to use its own stadium because of an artificial pitch. A swap of home rights is not possible. The parties involved are currently working on a solution.

The first round match could not be played at the end of July because Leipzig was still in action at the Supercup against champions Bayern Munich (3:5). Bayern start their cup campaign on 31 August at third-division club Viktoria Köln.