LONDON: London’s Olympic Stadium is set to be announced as one of the venues for the 2015 Rugby World Cup when organisers unveil their list of grounds for the tournament today.
England 2015 chiefs have guaranteed to deliver £80m ($125m) in revenue to the International Rugby Board (IRB) from the tournament and that means they must sell as many tickets as possible.
Initially, officials hoped the likes of Manchester United’s 75,000-seater Old Trafford Stadium would be available to them.
But with the World Cup coinciding with the English football season the Premier League champions have rejected overtures to stage rugby matches there, fearing damage to the pitch.
The Olympic Stadium has a maximum capacity of some 80,000 but doubt remains over whether retractable seating covering its athletics track -- which would take rugby fans closer to the action -- will have been installed by 2015.
Today’s announcement at Twickenham, English rugby’s headquarters, could see as many as 13 football grounds including Wembley, which will host the Champions League final selected as World Cup venues. AFP
