Ricoh Arena shortlisted for the Rugby World Cup 2015
Rugby World Cup 2015.
Coventry could be hosting prestigious matches in the Rugby World Cup 2015.
The Ricoh Arena, which would be re-named the Coventry Stadium, has been announced as a potential venue to host pool matches in the eagerly-anticipated tournament.
The 32,500-seater stadium has been named on the shortlist of 17 venues which will be scaled down to the final list of up to12 early in 2013.
Anthony Mundy, facilities director of the Coventry Stadium, said this would be the first time the Rugby World Cup had been played in England for 24 years.
“Bringing the Rugby World Cup to Coventry would be a massive boost to showcase the city to an international audience once again,” he said.
“We are an experienced venue in hosting top-class rugby matches as we have proved during the Heineken Cup and the EDF Energy Cup.
“The feedback we have received from the organisers of these competitions has always been extremely positive and we would love to play a part in the Rugby World Cup.”
Cllr John Mutton, leader of Coventry City Council, said it would be a fantastic opportunity for visitors to see the sights of Coventry and Warwickshire as well as watch top-class rugby.
“The Coventry Stadium is a fantastic stadium in the heart of England which has proved it is capable of hosting the world’s biggest sporting events,” he said.
“It would also be a tremendous boost to the area from a tourism and business perspective and we would love to be welcoming visitors from all over the globe to our multi-cultural city and see fans mingling in a fans zone in the city centre.
“We will continue to talk to England Rugby 2015 (ER 2015), the tournament organiser for Rugby World Cup 2015, over the next few weeks to put forward Coventry’s case to be included as one of the chosen venues.”
Andy Cosslett, England Rugby 2015 Chairman, added: “The selection of the long list of potential venues represents an exciting milestone for Rugby World Cup 2015, when fans up and down the country can begin to get excited about the prospect of one of sport’s greatest events coming to their local city or town.
“Our vision for Rugby World Cup 2015 is to ensure that we take this prestigious tournament to as many parts of the country as possible and we believe that the geographical spread of venues selected will enable us to maximise the reach of the tournament. In addition, we will be selecting further venues for training and team base camps that will ensure that the rugby community is at the very heart of Rugby World Cup 2015.
“We will now continue to work extremely closely with the venues, cities and stakeholders, including the Premier League and Football League, to plan the scheduling of matches and city hosting programmes to select a final list of up to 12 venues, which will be agreed by the early part of next year.
“We are confident that with the venues selected we will be able to reach our target of having up to 2.9 million tickets available, opening up the tournament to more people than ever before and in turn delivering the biggest and best Rugby World Cup that there has ever been.”
Rugby World Cup 2015 will involve 48 matches and will take place over a six week period from September 18 to October 31 2015.
