Football World Cup 2006 Germany

Veltins-Arena

The Veltins Arena is a football stadium in the German city of Gelsenkirchen. Originally named the Arena AufSchalke, it opened in 2001 as the new home ground for the Bundesliga football club FC Schalke 04 and will host 5 matches in the 2006 World Cup, including a quarter-final. Accredited as a UEFA Five-Star Stadium, it has a league capacity of 61,524 (standing and seated) and an international capacity of 53,994 (seated only). The naming rights to the stadium were sold on July 1, 2005 to the German brewery Veltins.

History

Plans to construct a new stadium emerged in the late 1990's, as fans and managers sought to move out of the outdated Parkstadion, and create a thoroughly modern multifunctional arena. Following Schalke 04's historic 1997 victory in the UEFA Cup, and the club's upcoming 100th anniversary in 2004, the contract to construct a 186 million