The Higher Administrative Court in Münster is examining the expansion of 1. FC Köln's training center. The club wants to expand the existing sports facility and nature conservationists are complaining about the full sealing. The court had previously rejected the expansion plan in 2022, but the club appealed to the Federal Administrative Court and won. The judges in Leipzig sent the case back to the Higher Administrative Court in Münster in April 2024, stating that the sealing of a small part of the total area is compatible with its character as a green area. ## Movement in the dispute: Satellite pitches on offer In the meantime, there was movement in the long-standing dispute over the expansion of the training center, the so-called Geißbockheim, in Cologne. The Cologne city council had initiated a solution approach. A majority of the council members voted for an initiative from the SPD faction on the future of the training center. According to this, three existing municipal sports facilities near the Geißbockheim would be made available to the Bundesliga club, which the 1. FC Köln would partially renovate at their own expense and use as satellite pitches. The initiative is now being reviewed by the Cologne city administration in a result-oriented manner after the approval in the council. «The upcoming ruling in Münster is by no means secondary for 1. FC Köln. Although the political decision on the satellite pitches in July was a major step that can help us alleviate our acute crisis in the long term, we still do not have any of these satellite pitches available to us. Moreover, the practice of using external pitches with daily shuttle trips for our youth and women's teams is an enormous energy-consuming compromise», said FC Managing Director Philipp Türoff before the hearing in Münster to the German Press Agency. ## New expert opinion: First hearing in June postponed The Higher Administrative Court had planned to examine the dispute again in June. However, the hearing was postponed at short notice because the nature conservationists had submitted a new expert opinion. According to the court, the city and 1. FC Köln had had the opportunity to comment on the submitted paper in the meantime. The court has not commissioned a new expert opinion, according to OVG spokesperson Gudrun