Stade Vélodrome step in to host rugby show

Article posted by Coliseum, May 17^th, 2022

Image: Bouygues Construction

Marseille’s Stade Vélodrome (France) is set to host rugby union’s 2023-2024 Top 14 final, with the otherwise permanent venue of the rugby showpiece – the Stade de France in Paris – unavailable due to the French capital hosting the Summer Olympics and Paralympics in 2024 and the majestic stadium being readied for the greatest sporting extravaganza on this planet.

The ‘inside the games’ stated that the 2024 rugby final is set to be the second event not to be held at the Stade de France, which holds more than 80,000 spectators, since the venue opened in 1998.

The 67,394-capacity Stade Vélodrome, known as the Orange Vélodrome for sponsorship reasons, is a multipurpose stadium in Marseille, France.

The Stade de France is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the seventh-largest stadium in Europe. The stadium is used by the France national football team and the France rugby union team for international competitions.

The 2024 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad and also known as Paris 2024, is an upcoming international multisport event scheduled to take place from July 26^th to August 11^th, 2024 in Paris, France.

The ‘inside the games’ further stated that Barcelona’s (Spain) 99,354-capacity Camp Nou stepped in to host the 2016 Top 14 rugby final, with the Stade de France and other major venues being occupied as France hosted the men’s Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) European Championship.

The Stade de France is due to be converted into an athletics stadium for Paris 2024, with rugby sevens matches also to be staged at the Saint-Denis venue.

Rugby sevens is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. Rugby sevens is administered by World Rugby, the body responsible for rugby union worldwide.

The Stade Vélodrome, which seats more than 67,000 spectators, is home to the top-flight French football club Olympique de Marseille. The venue was awarded the 2024 Top 14 rugby final by the National Rugby League Management Committee.

It has previously hosted the French national rugby union team, with the first Six Nations match being staged there against Italy in 2018.

The Stade Vélodrome held six matches at the 2007 men’s Rugby World Cup, and has been selected as a venue for the 2023 edition.

Matches at major football tournaments including the 1938 and 1998 FIFA World Cups™ and 1984 and 2016 European Championships have also been held at the Stade Vélodrome.

The 2024 Top 14 final is set to be the first time the venue will hold French domestic rugby union’s biggest match, although it was used for both the semi-final fixtures in 2011.

Stade Toulousain (French rugby union club) is the back-to-back Top 14 winners, triumphing in the 2019 and 2021 finals with the 2020 edition being canceled as the world got stung by COVID-19.

The Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics headline a list of major sporting events due to be held in France in the coming years.

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