St. Pauli denies use of its stadium for Leipzig’s cup game

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — German soccer club St. Pauli has refused the use of its stadium for a German Cup game because Leipzig is one of the teams involved. Defending champion Leipzig was drawn at Hamburg-based FC Teutonia Ottensen in the first round. The fourth-tier club’s 5,000-capacity ground is unsuitable for the game on Aug. 31 because artificial grass is not permitted in the cup, so it asked its bigger neighbor if it could use its Millerntor Stadium to host the match. But St. Pauli turned down Teutonia’s application on principle against Leipzig’s business model and due to concerns that allowing the Red Bull-backed team to play in its stadium would lead to protests from its own fans.