Emirates Stadium Gets Nod Ahead Of St James' Park!

Last updated : 23 October 2007 By Footy Mad - Editor



Wembley is in the running to host the Champions League final in 2010 or 2011, while Arsenal's Emirates Stadium and Dublin's rebuilt Lansdowne Road are in contention for the UEFA Cup event.

Wembley has been shortlisted by European football's governing body UEFA alongside four other stadiums, Berlin's Olympiastadion and the Allianz Arena in Munich and in Spain, Madrid's Bernabeu and the Mestalla in Valencia.

A UEFA delegation will visit Wembley before the end of this year with a decision expected in March next year.

At the same time the Emirates Stadium and Lansdowne Road, which is undergoing a huge renovation, will compete with Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen, Espanyol's Estadi Montjuic in Barcelona, the Arena Hamburg and the National Stadium in Bucharest.

Wembley last hosted the showpiece event in 1992 when Barcelona won their first European Cup courtesy of Ronald Koeman's extra-time free-kick.

The Champions League finals in 2008 and 2009 will be held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow and the Stadio Olimpico in Rome respectively.