May 2002 - Nr. 5
12 German Cities to Host 2006 World Cup
TWIG - Promising high-tech stadiums and friendly service, 2006 World Cup organizers picked 12 cities across Germany to stage the games. The sites announced Monday (April 15) were Berlin, Cologne, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Hannover, Kaiserslautern, Leipzig, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart. Leipzig is the only site in eastern Germany. Leverkusen was cut last week because its state-of-the-art stadium seats only 22,500. The sport’s governing body, FIFA, set a minimum capacity of 40,000. FIFA, which helped local organizers choose the sites, wants World Cup tournaments played at 8 to 12 stadiums.
"I have to congratulate the Germans,’’ FIFA president Sepp Blatter said. "They’ve secured an infrastructure that could allow us in 2006 to carry out perhaps the best World Cup ever.’’ Munich will host the opening game in a 66,000-seat stadium to be built there. A media center from which games across the nation will be moderated and broadcast will also be housed in the Bavarian capital. Building and upgrading stadiums throughout the country is expected to cost about US$1.5 billion. The preliminary draw for qualifying groups will be in Frankfurt in December 2003; the final World Cup draw will be in Leipzig two years later. Germany also staged the 1974 World Cup, winning one of its three championships.
