Whilst their Grotenburg Stadion undergoes renovations, KFC Uerdingen 05 had been playing their home games at the Merkur Spiel Arena in Düsseldorf. However, after months of financial problems, things seem to have reached a nadir with the club being effectively locked out for alleged non-payment of rent. Last weekend's match against FC Ingolstadt 04 had been postponed (along with the upcoming visit of Hansa Rostock on the 30th January) after it was reported that several players from both teams had tested positive for Coronavirus. Uerdingen assumed therefore that under the terms of their tenancy agreement no rent was due. However, stadium operators D.Live didn't see it that way and have kicked the club out of the Merkur-Spiel Arena after losing patience with Uerdingen who they claim owe €174,000 in rent. In a statement D.Live said " KFC Uerdingen has not paid the outstanding rental payments for the use of the Merkur Spiel Arena and has therefore not fulfilled the payment agreement with D.Live. For this reason, we cannot provide the arena as a venue for the upcoming match encounters on Sunday, January 24, and Saturday, January 30. We regret the economic situation of KFC Uerdingen, but we must safeguard the interests of our society. We are not yet able to provide any information on the further scheduled football matches of the KFC Uerdingen in the Merkur Spiel-Arena. "

Uerdingen described the move by the stadium operators as " completely incomprehensible " and KFC president Mikhail Ponomarev described the club as being " the victim of an internal power struggle at D.Live. However, the stadium situation is becoming increasingly unsustainable for us – and not just because of the costs. We need the help of the DFB here. "

Regardless of whether the stadium situation can be resolved or not however, the future looks bleak for the former DFB-Pokal winners and last week the club went into administration. Ponomarew, who had also recently announced his retirement, spoke of the possibility of the club crashing into the regional leagues and said of his decision to call in the administrators " After long and intensive reflection on how to best meet the current challenges, we consider this step to be the optimal solution to secure the future of KFC Uerdingen. "