When Shakhtar officially announced on July 17 its return to Krakow as its home base for European cup matches in the 2025/26 season, the matter seemed settled. The Henryk Reyman Stadium with a capacity of 33,000, an agreement with Wisła, and a quote from General Director Serhiy Palkin about "positive experience" and "a city that loves football." But a few weeks later, it became clear: the agreement exists, but who actually bears the organizational burden — nobody knows.
What Krulewski said — and what it means in practice
Wisła's President Jarosław Krulewski announced the supervisory board's decision on social media X. The formulation is clear: the club will not organize either Wieczysta's matches in the Ekstraklasa or Shakhtar's European cup matches. The reason is not a conflict with the Donetsk club, but an internal priority: Wisła is returning to the elite of Polish football and does not have the resources to be distracted by other tournaments.
"After consultations and constructive discussions with the club's supervisory board, as well as official voting, we have made a decision: the Wisła team will not organize matches of Polish Wieczysta in Ekstraklasa, nor will it organize Shakhtar's matches within European cups".
Jarosław Krulewski, president of FK Wisła (Krakow), on social media X
A key nuance: the Reyman Stadium is not owned by Wisła — the arena belongs to the city of Krakow. This means that Wisła from the very beginning acted only as an operator-intermediary, not as the owner of the resource. Now Shakhtar and Wieczysta must independently negotiate with the city authorities about organizing their matches.
How Shakhtar ended up in this triangle
Before signing the agreement, tension was already simmering around the stadium. According to a Polish publication citing journalist Piotr Słonka: Shakhtar categorically did not want to play at an arena where another club also performs. Wisła and Wieczysta spent weeks arguing over the schedule until they reached a compromise — the Ekstraklasa newcomer from Krakow enters the stadium from the spring round. It was in this window that Shakhtar received confirmation.
According to dynamo.kiev.ua citing Polish sources, the Donetsk club is willing to pay approximately 4 million euros for renting the stadium for several European cup matches — a significant portion of which was supposed to go to Wisła as the organizer. Now the distribution of these funds will have to be reviewed.
What's next
Shakhtar officially confirmed Krakow as the venue for home matches and is not changing its position for now. The Reyman Stadium meets UEFA requirements, has experience hosting international matches, and is located in the city center with developed infrastructure. The club promises to announce dates and ticket sale conditions in the near future.
The question of the organizational operator is legally open. Shakhtar can negotiate with the city directly, involve a third party, or return to negotiations with Wisła on different terms. In the Ukrainian diaspora in Poland — by various estimates, from one to one and a half million people — Shakhtar's matches in Krakow have stable demand: last European cup season, the Donetsk club already played here and filled the stands.
If Shakhtar does not resolve the organizational issue before the start of the Champions League qualifying round, UEFA may force the club to find a new venue — which would already be the third change of "home" arena in three seasons.
