Category 4 stadium
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UEFA stadium categories are categories for football stadiums laid out in
UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
's Stadium Infrastructure Regulations. Using these regulations, stadiums are rated as category one, two, three, or four (renamed from elite) in ascending ranking order. These categories replaced the previous method of ranking stadiums on one to five star scale in 2006. A stadium must be rated as category four in order to host games in the playoffs of the qualifying stage for the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
, or any game in the main competition. Category four is also required to host any game in the main competition of the
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
,
UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on thei ...
,
UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...
or the
UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...
final tournament. UEFA does not publish lists of stadiums fulfilling the criteria for any of the categories defined in the UEFA Stadium Infrastructure Regulations.


General

If a retractable roof is present, its use will be directed by consultation between the UEFA delegate and the main assigned referee. Although the minimum stadium capacity for category four is 8,000, it is required to host the UEFA Europa Conference League final, and only one stadium with a capacity less than 60,000 has been selected to host a UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Euro finals and 30,000 for the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Nations League finals, since these regulations were introduced in 2006. After the
2007 UEFA Champions League Final The 2007 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League, Europe's primary club football competition. The showpiece event was contested between Liverpool of England and Milan of Italy at the Olympic Stad ...
, UEFA President
Michel Platini Michel François Platini (born 21 June 1955) is a French football administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'Or three times in a row, in 1983, 1984 and 1985, a ...
stated that he wanted European Cup finals to be held at stadiums with an average capacity of 70,000 to solve security issues. The hosts for the finals between 2008 and 2013 (
Luzhniki Stadium Luzhniki Stadium ( rus, стадион «Лужники», p=stədʲɪˈon lʊʐnʲɪˈkʲi, ''Stadion Luzhniki'') is the national stadium of Russia, located in its capital city, Moscow. The full name of the stadium is Grand Sports Arena of the ...
, Stadio Olimpico, Santiago Bernabéu,
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...
and Allianz Arena) all had capacities of at least 70,000, but the 2014 UEFA Champions League Final, 2014 and 2020 UEFA Champions League Final, 2020 host (Estádio da Luz) held 65,000 spectators, the 2019 host (Metropolitano Stadium) held 67,000 spectators, the 2021 host (Estádio do Dragão) held just 50,033, with the 2022 host (Stade de France) holding 75,000 spectactors.


Differences between categories


See also

* List of European stadiums by capacity


References

{{reflist


External links


UEF6A Stadium Infrastructure Regulations - Edition 2010
UEFA, Stadia List Association football venues