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July 28th, 2003
FIFA announced today that it had given its formal approval of the venues and kick-off times for the finals of the 2004 Olympic Football Tournament. The men's final will take place on the 28th of August (10:00) in the Athens Olympic Stadium. FIFA wanted the final to be played at the Games' central stadium, but this can only happen in the morning, as the Olympic Stadium will be used for athletics in the evening of that day. The men's 3rd place game will be played on the 27th of August (20:30) in the Thessaloniki Kaftanzoglio Stadium, as it was originally planned. With regard to Karaiskaki Stadium, the FIFA announcement read: "ATHOC [the Athens 2004 Organising Committee] assured FIFA that its development would be completed on time, and that the venue would be available by the end of June 2004. FIFA welcomed these assurances, indicated its satisfaction with the current schedule, and expressed its confidence in ATHOC's ability to deliver as promised". Following this, it was confirmed that the Piraeus stadium would host both the 3rd place game (18:00) and the final (21:00) of the women's tournament on the 26th of August. Note of course that Karaiskaki will also be the venue of many group stage matches (men's and women's), of two quarter-finals, and of one semi-final of the men's Olympic Football Tournament. |