Official: La Cartuja stadium in Seville to host Copa del Rey finals until 2023
The RFEF have elected Seville as the host city for the final of the Copa del Rey over the next four seasons. The Andalucia regional government hope to revitalise the stadium.
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) have elected La Cartuja stadium in Seville to host this year's Copa del Rey final which will be held on 18 April. The RFEF have also agreed that La Cartuja should remain the venue for suubsequent finals in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
RFEF chooses La Cartuja over the Metropolitano
The Federation received two requests to organize the final - La Cartuja and Atlético Madrid's Wanda Metropolitano. In the end they opted for Seville, agreeing to the proposal made by Javier Imbroda, Minister for Education and Sport for Andalucia's regional government, to use the same venue for the final of the next four editions of the Copa del Rey. Imbroda, has also committed to meet organizations costs - unlike Madrid's regional government, despite interest from mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida to stage the final in the capital. The Andalucian autonomous community will also fund refurbishing La Cartuja which has been out of use for several years.
2003 UEFA Cup final
This year's final will be the third to be staged at La Cartuja - it held the 1999 final between Valencia and Atlético Madrid - soon after its inauguration and then the 2001 final between Zaragoza and Celta. It was originally constructed for the 1999 World Athletics Championships with the idea that Betis and Sevilla would share the stadium after the tournament but both clubs decided againt the idea. The last major football game to be played at the stadium was the 2003 UEFA Cup final between José Mourinho's Porto and Celtic.