Wembley on Uefa finals shortlist
The new Wembley is one of the world's most advanced stadiums
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Tuesday, 23, Oct 2007 09:03
The new Wembley Stadium is in the running to host the Champions League or Uefa Cup finals in 2010 and 2011, it has been revealed.
European football's governing body Uefa, who are in charge of the two competitions, have unveiled a shortlist of five stadia that are bidding for the right to host one of the Champions League events.
Arsenal's new 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium is also on the shortlist to host one of the two Uefa Cup finals, as is Dublin's refurbished Lansdowne Road ground, which is currently under construction.
Wembley cost around £780 million to complete and officials are still in the process of paying off the massive debts accrued for the cost of the ambitious project, and hosting the Champions League final would generate much-needed capital.
Bidding against the 90,000-strong capacity venue are two of the redeveloped grounds used at last summer's World Cup in Germany - the Olympiastadion in Berlin and the Allianz Arena in Munich.
In Spain, Valencia's Mestalla Stadium and the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid are also on the Champions League shortlist.
Joining the Emirates and Lansdowne Road on the list for the Uefa Cup finals are the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen and the Arena Hamburg in Germany; the Olimpico de Montjuic in Barcelona, Spain; and the National in Bucharest, Romania.
In a statement announcing the candidates, Uefa described the criteria used to determine the stadia that would be in contention.
"[We] selected these candidates on the basis of capacity, infrastructure, facilities and functionality (including the security aspects) of the stadium concerned; legal documentation and guarantees (staging agreement and appendixes); accommodation and airport facilities; and rotation between different national associations," the statement read.
"Site visits will take place this October and November.
"A final decision is expected to be made by the Uefa executive committee at its meeting in Liechtenstein on March 27th/28th 2008."
The host stadiums for the next two Champions League finals have already been named as Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium in 2008 and the Stadio Olimpico in Rome in 2009.
The 2008 and 2009 Uefa Cup finals will be held at the City of Manchester Stadium and the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in Istanbul, respectively.