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Home  » Sports » Champions League returns to Wembley

Champions League returns to Wembley

September 26, 2008 16:26 IST
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London's Wembley Stadium will be awarded the 2011 Champions League final, UEFA sources said.

- Complete Coverage: UEFA Champions League

The sources told Reuters that European soccer's governing body and the British government had resolved taxation issues which paved the way for the decision to be taken at the next meeting of UEFA's executive committeee in December.

Wembley lost out on the 2010 final this year, which was awarded to Madrid's Bernabeu stadium after the British government was unable to provide assurances that players competing in the final would not be taxed by the British government.

"It all seems to be sorted out now and everything is okay for Wembley," one source said.

Another added: "There will probably be a meeting called of the competitions committee in November to sort it out and then the executive will rubber stamp the decision in December."

UEFA maintains that footballers should be taxed in their country of domicile and that taxing them separately in every country they play matches in would be both unfair and unnecessarily complicated.

Wembley, along with the Bernabeu, was among five contenders to host the 2010 and 2011 finals along with Berlin's Olympiastadion or Munich's Allianz Arena and Valencia's Mestalla stadium.

One source said Dublin's Lansdowne Road stadium was the favourite to host the 2011 UEFA Cup final.

"London's Emirates Stadium could now be ruled out as a result of Wembley's appointment and Bucharest's National Stadium is behind schedule," the source said.

"Also there was an unwritten agreement a few years back with the football association of Ireland that if Lansdowne Road was ready on time, it would get it."

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Source: REUTERS
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