Football
Associated Press 9y

Cardiff's Millennium Stadium to host 2017 Champions League final

The Champions League final will be played in Wales for the first time in 2017 at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

The 74,500-seat venue was awarded the hosting rights by UEFA's executive committee at a meeting in Prague.

The decision comes after last year's unsuccessful bid by the Welsh capital to secure matches at the pan-continent 2020 European Championship.

Stockholm also missed out on Euro 2020 matches, but UEFA decided to give the Europa League in May 2017 to Friends Arena.

The 2017 Women's Champions League will also be played in the Welsh capital, taking place at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Football Association of Wales (FAW) chief executive Jonathan Ford said: "Staging major football finals is one of the objectives contained within the FAW's Strategic Plan -- we believe that staging both the 2017 UEFA Champions League final and 2017 UEFA Women's Champions League final will have a positive and long-lasting effect on Welsh football.

"Today's announcement is the culmination of two years of hard work and I'd like to thank all those who've helped the FAW fulfil its ambition of staging a UEFA Champions League final."

Wales international and Real Madrid star Gareth Bale added: "These are exciting times for Welsh football. It feels like the whole country is behind us as we attempt to reach next year's UEFA Euro 2016 finals in France.

"I know how passionate the Welsh football fans are so it's great the UEFA Champions League final is coming to my home city of Cardiff. I loved playing in the UEFA Super Cup [at the Cardiff City Stadium] last year and it would be fantastic to be involved in front of a packed crowd at such an iconic stadium in 2017."

The 2017 Super Cup between the winners of the two UEFA club competitions will be in Skopje, Macedonia, at Philip II Arena.

In 2016, the Champions League final will be at Milan's San Siro, and the Europa League final at St. Jakob-Park in the Swiss city of Basel.

^ Back to Top ^