Wembley, Amsterdam ArenA, Prague get 2013 finals

At its meeting in Nyon today, the UEFA Executive Committee unanimously selected the venues for the 2013 UEFA club competition finals.

Wembley will host the UEFA Champions League final, while the Amsterdam ArenA will stage the UEFA Europa League decider. The winners of those competitions then shall play off for the UEFA Super Cup at the Eden Stadium in Prague.

Wembley hosted this season's UEFA Champions League final, but UEFA President Michel Platini explained that there were exceptional circumstances behind staging another showpiece match in north London.

"Founded in 1863 the Football Association (FA) is the oldest of all the national football associations and in 2013 it will celebrate its 150th anniversary," he said. "Given the exceptional nature of this historic moment in our beautiful game, and the fact that we will also celebrate 150 years of the Laws of the Game, we felt it was our duty at UEFA to help the FA celebrate in some special way. For this reason we have decided to return to England and specifically to Wembley Stadium - the home of the English FA – for the 2013 UEFA Champions League final.

"I think it is important to respect 150 years of the FA," Mr Platini added after the announcement of the decision. "We are gathered here because 150 years ago, there were people in England who put football's rules in place. I believe it is a real moment of respect – if we forget the past, we do not have a future."

Mr Platini continued: "We will also hold the XXXVII Ordinary UEFA Congress in London in the days leading up to the UEFA Champions League final."

The 2011/12 UEFA Champions League final will be on 19 May at the Fußball Arena München while ten days earlier the UEFA Europa League will conclude at the National Stadium, Bucharest.

The Executive Committee also unanimously approved the proposal made by Jacques Lambert, the president of the body organising UEFA EURO 2016, to add the two reserve cities of Toulouse and Saint-Etienne to the nine cities already selected to host games at the finals in France.

With the finals set to be expanded to include 24 teams, rather than 16, from 2016, there will be 51 matches as opposed to the customary 31 at the tournament. The Executive Committee felt that it was wise to increase the number of host cities to 11 to better cope with this increased number of matches.

"I preferred for the Executive Committee to intervene without delay, to put a rapid end to any uncertainty," said Mr Platini. "I am convinced that the Executive Committee's decision is a very good one. It is a common-sense decision for UEFA, a decision of equity for the candidate cities, and a decision of general interest for the host country."

All further decisions from the UEFA Executive Committee meeting that continues tomorrow morning will be communicated at the end of the session in a press conference that is scheduled for 12.15CET on Friday at UEFA headquarters.