quote:
Finals awarded to Paris and Athens
Tuesday, 19 April 2005
The UEFA Champions League finals in 2006 and 2007 will be played in Paris and Athens respectively, after UEFA awarded hosting rights to the Stade de France and the Greek capital's Olympic Stadium. The decision was taken by UEFA's Executive Committee at its meeting in Tallinn, Estonia on Tuesday.
Action from last season's Champions League final
Paris match
The Stade de France staged the 2000 Champions League final between Real Madrid CF and Valencia CF, and the climax of UEFA's blue-riband club tournament will now return to that arena after a six-year gap. It also gives UEFA the opportunity to create a link back to the first European Champion Clubs' Cup final between Real Madrid CF and Stade de Reims in Paris in 1956.
Athens return
Athens's Olympic Stadium will host its first European final since the venue was rebuilt to hold the 2004 Olympic Games. The Greek city previously provided the backdrop to the Champions League showpiece of 1994, when AC Milan and FC Barcelona met at the OAKA Spiros Louis stadium.
Eindhoven honour
Meanwhile, the hosting rights to the UEFA Cup finals in the 2005/06 and 2006/07 campaigns were also awarded. The Philips Stadium in Eindhoven will be the scene of next season's final of UEFA's second major club competition - with the venue's name changing for the event.
Hampden spectacle
Then Hampden Park, Glasgow, which staged the 2002 Champions League final, will see another European football spectacular with the UEFA Cup in 2007.
Merits considered
UEFA decided on Paris and Athens after considering their merits in terms of capacity, stadium infrastructure and dossiers including city and airport agreements and promotional plans. UEFA has also conducted a variety of site visits.
Other Paris finals
The Parc des Princes, now home of Paris Saint-Germain FC, hosted the 1956, 1975 and 1981 Champions' Cup finals. The 1978 and 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup showpieces, along with the 1998 UEFA Cup final, were also played there.
Athens events
Previous to 1994, Athens also saw the Champions' Cup lifted at the Olympic Stadium - or Spiros Louis stadium - in 1983, the year after it was first inaugurated. On that occasion, Hamburger SV beat Juventus FC 1-0. The ground, which also staged the 1987 Cup Winners' Cup final, was then renovated for the 2004 Olympics.
Stadium capacities
The Stade de France has a capacity of 80,000, while the Athens Olympic Stadium holds 72,000 people, although for the Olympic football tournament last summer, that number was reduced to 58,800.
First major final
PSV Eindhoven's Philips stadium - which has a capacity of over 35,000 - has never hosted a major one-off club final, but did stage the second leg of the 1978 UEFA Cup final when PSV defeated SC Bastia 3-0 to claim the trophy. Two other Dutch cities, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, have hosted 12 European club finals between them.
National stadium
For Hampden Park, Scotland's national stadium and home of Queen's Park FC, this will be the first UEFA Cup showpiece. The Glasgow ground - whose capacity is 52,000 - staged the 1960, 1976 and 2002 Champions' Cup finals as well as the Cup Winners' Cup finals in 1962 and 1966.