The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) announced after a meeting in Kyiv on Thursday that İstanbul’s Atatürk Olimpiyat Stadı would be the venue for the 2020 UEFA Champions League.
The stadium, Turkey’s largest, hosted the Champions League final game in 2005 between Liverpool and AC Milan, a thrilling match during which Liverpool equalized the score coming from 3-0 down and beating the Italian team on penalties.
“A strong sign of the faith and trust the European football family and UEFA have in Turkey,” Yıldırım Demirören, chairman of the Turkish Football Association, said in commenting on the decision.
With its 76,000-person capacity, Atatürk Olimpiyat Stadı, named after Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, opened in 2002 as the home of the Turkish national team and is occasionally used for İstanbul team home games.
This year’s Champions League final will be played tomorrow in Kyiv, between Real Madrid and Liverpool.
According to the UEFA executive committee decision, Gdansk, Poland, will be the venue for the 2020 Europa League final, while the Super Cup between the Champions League and Europa League winners will be played at Estadio do Dragao in Porto, Portugal.
Austria Arena in Vienna has been chosen for the women’s Champions League final in 2020.