Pre-match 2008 UEFA Champions League Final

1 pre-match

1.1 venue
1.2 ticketing , supporters
1.3 match ball
1.4 officials

pre-match
venue

the entrance uefa champions festival in red square, moscow

the luzhniki stadium in moscow selected venue match @ meeting of uefa executive committee in ljubljana, slovenia, on 4 october 2006. committee – decided venue 2009 final , 2008 , 2009 uefa cup finals @ same meeting – based decision on number of factors, including stadium capacity, safety , security facilities, , accessibility. other venues in contention estadio olímpico in sevilla, olympiastadion in berlin, wembley stadium in london, , stadio olimpico in rome, chosen host 2009 final.

the european cup final had never before been played in russia, making match easternmost final in tournament s history; however, luzhniki stadium had played host 1999 uefa cup final, in italian club parma beat french side marseille 3–0. because of difference in time zones, match kicked off @ 22:45 moscow time, making first champions league final start on 1 day , finish in next.

originally known grand arena of central lenin stadium, ground opened in 1956 new national stadium soviet union national football team. in 1973, served principal venue seventh summer universiade, before going on perform same function @ 1980 summer olympics. point, stadium s capacity 103,000; however, renovations in mid-1990s reduced capacity under 85,000. stadium given five-star status uefa in 1998, before hosting uefa cup final following year. stadium cope cold russian winters, grass pitch replaced artificial fieldturf surface in 2002. although uefa allowed matches in earlier rounds played on synthetic surface, mandated final should played on natural grass. turf shipped in slovakia final @ cost of £160,000, , laid on top of existing playing surface, resulting in pitch being 35 cm (14 in) higher normal. there concerns on players safety on new field, had relaid twice after patches died in transit.

as part of marketing match, unique design concept has been developed each champions league final since 1997, inspired cultural , historical heritage of host city. 2008 final s design announced on 31 october 2007 in ceremony @ luzhniki stadium, attended ambassador final, former russian goalkeeper rinat dasayev. design based on colour scheme of deep red , gold, inspired predominant colours of red square, kremlin , gold domes of moscow s cathedrals, , featured images of moscow skyline, uefa champions league logo , trophy rendered in russian artistic style, text in font similar cyrillic script.

as has taken place every champions league final since 1997, ceremonial handover of uefa champions league trophy held in host city; 2008 ceremony @ gum centre in moscow s red square on 3 april 2008. on behalf of 2007 champions milan, technical operations director , former player leonardo, , club director umberto gandini presented trophy uefa president michel platini, passed on mayor of moscow, yury luzhkov, displayed in 5 cities around country – kazan, yekaterinburg, krasnodar, saint petersburg , samara – before returning moscow ahead of final. in attendance @ ceremony final ambassador rinat dasayev , russian football union president vitaly mutko.

ticketing , supporters

a ticket 2008 uefa champions league final

although luzhniki stadium had usual capacity of 85,000 spectators, reduced 69,500 final. of tickets, approximately 21,000 reserved each finalist club, further 10,500 available purchase general public via uefa website. recipients of tickets determined random ballot following online application process ran 28 february 19 march 2008. tickets available in 3 categories, priced @ €80, €140 , €200 depending on location in stadium. uefa received around 125,000 applications tickets general public on course of three-week application process.

the clubs able distribute tickets wished; manchester united chose make allocation available executive seat holders , season ticket holders had applied ticket @ least 1 of club s 5 away champions league matches between group stage , quarter-finals, while chelsea opened applications club members , season ticket holders.

manchester united chief executive david gill expressed disappointment club had been allocated 21,000 tickets supporters, claiming have potentially sold 100,000. while manchester united managed sell out entire allocation, uefa director of communications william gaillard indicated chelsea still had couple of thousand tickets unsold day before game, despite claims chelsea s chief operations officer, ron gourlay, contrary.

one of major concerns english fans attending final acquisition of visas entry russia. however, after period of negotiations between representatives of russia, united kingdom, uefa , 2 clubs, agreed fans tickets match not require visa, provided able produce passport @ least 6 months before expiry , completed immigration card on entry russia. visa-free period supposed run 72 hours between 19 may , 23 may, later extended eight-day period lasting 17 may 25 may. because of difficulty , expense of acquiring ticket , visa, fans had not got tickets advised against travelling moscow uefa s william gaillard, warned fans russia s strict laws regarding consumption of alcohol.

although 2 clubs claimed have sold of 42,000 tickets allocated them, 25,000 fans said have travelled moscow united kingdom, 110 charter flights arriving ahead of game. according head of russian national tourist office, mikhail ignatiev, many fans put off cost of travel , accommodation. additionally, of moscow s hotels full on night of game. fans looked offload tickets match, moscow times reported black-market price dropped high of €2,000 (£1,600) around €500 (£400), while russian tv channel sport-1 reporting prices low £300 tickets belonging fans had failed make trip moscow. among celebrities did not travel chelsea supporter , chairman of london organising committee of olympic , paralympic games (locog) sebastian coe, had attend meetings ahead of 2012 summer olympics, , manchester united fan , red lead singer mick hucknall, due perform @ bmw pga championship @ wentworth.

match ball

a ball 2008 uefa champions league final on display @ 2011 uefa champions festival in hyde park, london

the match ball final adidas finale moscow, eighth in adidas finale range. ball s design based around starball pattern, inspired uefa champions league logo; stars dark red gold detailing, tying in overall design concept final. technically, ball based on adidas europass, used @ uefa euro 2008 later summer; has same 14-panel configuration adidas teamgeist, proprietary surface texture developed europass. ball unveiled @ ceremony in moscow s manezhnaya square, attended uefa general secretary david taylor, former germany player , coach franz beckenbauer, final ambassador rinat dasayev , russian football union president vitaly mutko.

officials

Ľuboš micheľ refereed final.

the referee final 40-year-old slovakian referee Ľuboš micheľ, first slovak take charge of european cup final. team completed fellow slovak assistant referees roman slysko , martin balko , fourth official vladimír hriňák. having presided on 2003 uefa cup final, micheľ second man referee finals of both champions league , uefa cup since latter changed single-legged affair in 1998; other pierluigi collina. micheľ began refereeing in 1987 @ age of 19, , took charge of first top-flight game in 1993. same year, promoted fifa list of international referees, , in november 1993, refereed first international match – uefa under-21 championship qualifying match between san marino , england.

micheľ s first uefa champions league matches came in 1998–99 season, including manchester united s 5–0 win on brøndby in group stage. 2008 final, refereed 55 champions league matches (including qualifying), notably second leg of semi-final between chelsea , liverpool in 2005, in liverpool s luis garcía scored controversial goal, micheľ chose allow. selected referee @ 2000 summer olympics, 2002 , 2006 fifa world cups, , european championships in 2004 , 2008.