Wembley overlooked for Champs League final over tax fears
Friday, 28 Mar 2008 18:21
Wembley Stadium has been open and in operation for nearly a year
The new Wembley Stadium has been beaten in the race to host the 2010 Champions League final by the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid.
And European football's governing body Uefa has revealed the reason they overlooked the brand new 90,000 all-seater stadium was because the UK government had not made the necessary guarantees over taxation of players.
Uefa president Michel Platini revealed that while the Football Association had convinced the governing body that players would not be subjected to paying tax on their earnings if the final was held at Wembley.
However, the government had not followed suit and this meant Real Madrid's newly-renovated 71,569-seater Bernabeu Stadium got the nod ahead of the English flagship venue.
"Yes, the reason was the taxes," Platini explained.
"The concerns we had over players being taxed were minimised by the English FA but not confirmed by the British government."
The Bernabeu was chosen ahead of two other bids, both from Germany - Berlin's Olympiastadion and Munich's Allianz Arena.
However the Arena Hamburg - which, like the Berlin and Munich grounds, was opened in 2000 in preparation for Germany's hosting of the 2006 World Cup - was chosen for the 2010 Uefa Cup final.
A statement from the Uefa executive committee revealed the venues were chosen "on the basis of capacity, facilities, accommodation and security among other considerations".
However, in a move that suggests the European body are prepared to allow the FA and Wembley time to iron out the taxation issues in order to host a final in the near future, the statement added that the committee had "postponed a decision on the host venues for the 2011 finals to allow members more time to consider the bids".
"It gives them the chance to provide the necessary answers to the tax question," said Platini's advisor William Gaillaird.
"Clearly, Wembley is an outstanding venue."