World Cup 2030: Bernabéu gains a crucial ally to host the final
source: StadiumDB.com; author: Miguel Ciołczyk Garcia
The president of the Spanish federation shows once again that he is not one to mince his words. After strongly supporting Valencia's bid for the 2030 World Cup, Rafael Louzán did not hesitate to say that the final should go to Santiago Bernabéu. The reasons he gave caused outrage in Catalonia.
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A strange mistake
During an interview on Josep Pedrerol's programme El Cafelito, Spanish federation (RFEF) president Rafael Louzán was asked about the stadium that will host the 2030 World Cup final. Louzán did not hesitate to answer, but his words ended in an unexpected exchange:
- Pedrerol: The final will be...
- Louzán: At Bernabéu. I want it to be at Bernabéu. Because it's in the capital of this country, the stadium with the biggest capacity...
- P: Wait, the biggest capacity?
- L: Yes.
- P: When they finish the Camp Nou...
- L: Well, we’ll have to see how many [seats - ed. note] there will be in the Camp Nou.
- P: More. If it's because of the capacity...
- L: Well, the capacity and because it's the capital of the state.
The capacity of Real Madrid’s stadium is now 81,044 seats, so it remains almost unchanged after the reconstruction. On the other hand, Camp Nou will be able to host 105,000 fans on the stands, and even before the works started, with its 99,300 seats it had a capacity far bigger than Santiago Bernabéu.
In fact, the capacity of Los Blancos’s temple is not an advantage, but a huge problem for it to host the final. As FIFA explained in a report, the minimum capacity for the final is 80,000, and the capacity of Bernabéu will be 78,297 seats during the World Cup. In the same document, Bernabeu, Camp Nou and the Moroccan rival of the Spanish venues, Grand Stade Hassan II, all received the same score: 4.3 out of 5.
The RFEF president's statements were therefore received as an unpleasant surprise in Catalonia. Barcelona wants to host the final, and one of its strongest arguments is precisely the capacity. Louzán belittles the Spotify Camp Nou to justify his bid for the Bernabéu for the World Cup final,
complains the Catalan daily newspaper El Nacional in its article.
© Madrid1902 | Although Bernabeu is the clear favorite, the 1,703 seats it lacks to reach the 80,000 minimum required by FIFA could make it lose the fight for the final.
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