Sporting Charleroi granted permit for new stadium

Daniel Sedlarevic19/01/2024 5:55 am17/01/2024

Image via Wikimedia Commons

Belgian Pro League football team Sporting Charleroi has been awarded a building permit by the City of Charleroi to create its new stadium.

The complex will be built at Marchienne-au-Pont on wasteland that was formerly used for steelworks and mining projects. The multi-functional stadium was among the proposals disclosed by the City of Charleroi, with the club previously emphasising the need for a new home when it launched its ‘Horizon 2024’ vision.

The project has subsequently been delayed, mostly owing to the COVID-19 problem, although Sporting hopes to move into their new home in time for the 2026-27 season. The 20,000-seat stadium was designed by French architecture firm Mariotti & Associés and Belgian business Carré 7, and it promises to be a European first with its translucent roof.

Cyril Rousseaux, managing architect at Carré 7, spoke on the design and functions the new stadium will possess.

“This innovative roof will make the Zebrarena unique in Europe, the stands and the pitch will be protected from wind, rain and snow,” he said via media release.

“The Zebrarena will be able to host large concerts without the organiser having to worry about bad weather. In the event of heavy rain, there will be no question of cancellation and that is a huge asset.

“We created an English-style stadium with four closed corners and stands very close to the playing area to allow supporters to be as close as possible to the players, as if they were in the match.”

While the building permission has been awarded, development on the stadium is not scheduled to begin until 2025 since decontamination work on the site is ongoing. The Zebrarena is expected to cost slightly more than $76.6 million, with Sporting and private investors covering the entire cost.

Sporting has played in the Stade du Pays de Charleroi since 1939, and the stadium has been extensively renovated to serve as a host site for Belgium’s co-hosting of UEFA Euro 2000 with the Netherlands. Its capacity for the event was 30,000, however, that has now been reduced to 15,000.

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Victory unites with Roasting Warehouse in culture-led partnership

Patrick Irving16/04/2026 8:55 am16/04/2026

Image credit: Melbourne Victory

The Melbourne-based anf family-owned business will join the Victory family, uniting two institutions which represent the city’s culture and identity.

A partnership with local roots

As the newest partner of Melbourne Victory, Roasting Warehouse joins forces with a vital part of the city’s sporting landscape.

The club’s Managing Director, Caroline Carnegie, outlined why the partnership bears so much value to both parties.

“We are excited to collaborate with Roasting Warehouse, a community-oriented destination for high-quality coffee, proud of its foundations in Melbourne,” said Carnegie via official media release.

“Football and coffee sit at the epicentre of Melbourne’s culture. The two go hand-in-hand, consistently at the centre of the conversation that stirs Melburnians, which is no different to the conversation sport and Melbourne Victory stir in the State.”

Indeed, this is a partnership which combines the identity, passions and culture of an entire city, therefore giving it the foundations required for long-term, mutual success.

Representing the best of Melbourne

Both Victory and Roasting Warehouse are hugely successful in their respective industries. They are institutions with community-oriented philosphies, who pride themselves on craft and quality.

“We’re incredibly proud to partner with Melbourne Victory, a club that represents the heart, passion, and ambition of Melbourne,” revealed Roasting Warehouse Head of Brand, Alexander Paraskevopoulos.

“As a Melbourne-founded, family-run business, supporting a team that means so much to the local community feels very natural for us.”

Furthermore, through their high-quality blends, Roasting Warehouse will look to prepare Victory’s players and staff for high performances on the pitch as the seasons nears completion.

But this is about far more than just fueling athletes.

This is a partnership which embodies and unites two of Melbourne’s greatest strengths and cultural markers – a connection forged from the city’s very own DNA.

For more information about Roasting Warehouse, click here.

Marie-Louise Eta makes history as new Union Berlin head coach

Patrick Irving15/04/2026 6:05 am14/04/2026

Image credit: FC Union Berlin

In an historic appointment, Eta will take over as head coach of Union Berlin until the end of the season.

History in the making

Previously the first female assistant coach in Bundesliga history with Union Berlin, Eta will now take the reigns of the men’s first team on an interim basis.

Currently, the club sit in 11th place in the Bundesliga table, but with only two wins so far in 2026, relegation appears an all-too-real prospect, and one which the club is desperate to avoid.

“Given the points gap in the lower half of the table, our place in the Bundesliga is not yet secure,” said Eta via official media release.

‘I am delighted that the club has entrusted me with this challenging task. One of Union’s strengths has always been, and remains, the ability to pull together in such situations.”

Eta will begin as Union’s new head coach with immediate effect, and will be in the dugout for the club’s matchup against Wolfsburg this weekend.

A step into an equal future

Eta’s appointment signals a major step towards a more level playing field in the football landscape.

Furthermore, Eta joins other coaches including Sabrinna Wittmann, Hannah Dingley and Corinne Diacre who, in recent years, have blazed a trail for female coaches to step into the men’s game.

Wittmann currently manages FC Ingolstadt in Germany’s third division, and was the first female head coach in Germany’s top three divisions.

In 2023, Dingley became caretaker manager of Forest Green Rovers, and thus the first woman to lead a men’s professional team in England.

Diacre, now head coach of France’s women’s national team, managed Ligue 2’s Clerment Foot between 2014 and 2017.

Final thoughts

The impact therefore, is that Eta’s appointment will show future generations of aspiring female coaches that men’s football is an equally viable and possible pathway as the women’s game.

The time is now to level the playing field.

And while it may be a short-term role, its effect on attitudes towards equality and fair opportunities in the game will hopefully resonate long after the season ends.