THE Champions League final is set to be moved to a new stadium after the San Siro was stripped of its hosting privileges.
The iconic Milan ground was set to host the European final in 2027 but now a new venue will be found.
The decision has been made as the Municipality of Milan was unable to guarantee that the Giuseppe Meazza stadium would not be affected by refurbishment work.
A statement read: “Municipality of Milano could not guarantee that the San Siro stadium and its surroundings would not be affected by refurbishment works.”
A new venue for the glamour tie is yet to be decided.
It could be handed to Wembley Stadium as a result, even though the ground held last season’s final, which Real Madrid won.
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Uefa know playing their biggest match at a venue with outstanding corporate facilities would make it an even bigger money-spinner for their finances.
Uefa bosses also confirmed that the “Big Five” leagues, including the Prem, will only receive £8.3m in “solidarity” cash for the clubs not competing in European competitions this season, worth around £640,000 to each of the 13 top flight outfits.
The remaining 50 smaller leagues will share £215m with Uefa believing the new split – no clubs in any of the three European competitions will benefit from the larger fund – will “support the competitive balance across Europe”.
Uefa have confirmed that a decision on a new host stadium will be made by June 2025.
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The San Siro is set to undergo a massive refurbishment, with both AC Milan and Inter Milan supporting the move.
However, it is thought that as a result, the ground would not be able to hold the final of the Champions League in three years’ time.
The planned work is part of the preparation to renovate the stadium for Euro 2032.
Italy is bidding to co-host the tournament along with Turkey and the San Siro will need modernisation to bring it up to standard.
The famous arena has played host to some of football’s biggest games during its 99-year history.
The 80,000-capacity stadium was the venue for the Champions League finals in 2001 and 2016.
It was also the stage of the European Cup finals in 1965 and 1970, the latter of which saw Inter Milan win the tournament.
New Champions League format
Each club will play eight matches in the opening phase – against seeded opposition, in a system designed to ensure that teams play opponents of similar difficulty.
The top eight teams in the “final” table will automatically go through to the last 16, where they will be joined by the eight play-off winners of ties between the sides placed ninth to 24th in the table.
Despite there being just eight matches in the opening phase, European matches will be spread over 10 midweek slots.
The new Champions League format also sees the implication of two additional qualifying spots.
They will be awarded to the nations that are top of the “country coefficient” chart each season.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
