Atletico President assured his team’s new stadium will host the Champions League final and Copa del Rey final within the first year from Estadio la Peineta opening.

Atletico President Enrique Cerezo informed yesterday that his team’s new stadium in eastern Madrid will be the place of 2018 Champions League final. “In the first year that we open the stadium, we will surely host the Champions League and Copa del Rey final,” Cerezo said to Onda Cero radio. “We will have the best stadium in the world when it is complete”.

Estadio la Peineta will be reopened after complete reconstruction in early 2017, following huge delays of recent years. The building, able to hold 70,000+ fans, was initially scheduled for delivery in 2014, but then suffered from repeated setbacks.

In line with UEFA policies

In recent years UEFA repeatedly awarded hosting rights for major finals to stadiums that were just opened. This proved true for Aviva Stadium, Stadion Narodowy and Stadionul National, among others.

Unfortunately, since Michel Platini took over in 2007, UEFA dropped its previous, more transparent bidding procedures. Therefore we have no precise information as to current bidding process for the 2018 finals. It’s the first Champions League final without a host.

Madrid would shatter Ukraine’s dreams

If words of Enrique Cerezo prove true, this will mean failure for Kyiv’s bid to host the 2018 CL final. Ukrainian Football Federation has been campaigning to hold the 2018 final since July last year. In December they filed the final bidding dossier and according to officials the Ukrainian capital was “very likely” to receive the hosting rights.