Wembley Stadium likely to host 2011 Champions League finals

Football hopefuls await the final decision in the quest to host the 2011 Champions League finals, with UEFA expected to make an official announcement this week.

A source at UEFA has suggested that the honour will “almost certainly” be presented to the English national stadium Wembley. Although the winning stadia should have been revealed earlier, it is believed that UEFA is granting the British Government additional time to modify tax laws that prevented Wembley from acting as the 2010 host.

As dictated by British law, since the team members playing in the Champions League would be earning income within England, the government is privy to a share. Not surprisingly, UEFA has since stepped forward to ask that an exemption be implemented on sporting events. The UEFA final is expected to bring in a significant amount of revenue, on account of television deals and the potential to bring in tourists, should the match include a club from outside of England.

Traditionally, Wembley’s main competitors have consisted of the Allianz Arena, located in Munich, Germany, and the Olympiastadion, based in Berlin. Neither the Allianz Arena or Olympiastadion is stranger to high-profile hosting gigs, with the stadiums jointly playing a role in the 2006 World Cup. Ironically, Wembley had been constructed to accommodate the event but lost to its contenders, making the latest possible honour even more significant for the London arena.

With Wembley deemed a likely candidate for the UEFA Champions League, Dublin’s Lansdowne Road is expected to be named as location for the 2011 Europa Cup, formerly known as the UEFA Cup.