Wembley To Host 2011 Champions League
Wembley Stadium has been chosen by European governing body UEFA to host the 2011 Champions League Final, beating off competition from Munich and Berlin.
The move was confirmed following UEFA’s decision to all the UK government to bring in a tax exemption for players appearing in the final.
UEFA also announced that Dublin’s Lansdowne Road has been picked to host the 2011 final of the Europa League, previously the UEFA Cup, with Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium missed out.
The Emirates Stadium was ruled out of the running because the same country cannot host both major European finals in the same year.
The Champions League final was last hosted by the UK in 2003 at Old Trafford.
Wembley has not staged it since 1992 when Barcelona beat Sampdoria in the year before the competition became known as the Champions League.
It missed out on hosting the 2010 Champions League final after failing to provide assurances that players featuring in the final would not be taxed, but the UK Treasury agreed to relax its rules last year.
Staging the final is thought to be worth up to £30m to the economy.
The Allianz Arena – home of Bayern Munich – will stage the 2012 Champions League Final with Bucharest’s National Stadium winning the Europa League Final.
