Dutch decide 2007 venues

The Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) has announced the four cities that will host matches at the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, with Heerenveen, Groningen, Arnhem and Nijmegen all making it through from the short list of seven.

Groningen final
Chairman Jeu Sprengers led the ceremony at KNVB headquarters in Zeist, where Eredivisie teams SC Heerenveen (Abe Lenstra stadium), FC Groningen (Euroborg), BV Vitesse (Gelredome) and NEC Nijmegen (De Goffert) were awarded host-club status. Group games will provisionally take place at all four venues between 10 and 17 June, with Heerenveen and Arnhem staging a semi-final apiece three days later. The final has been scheduled for Saturday 23 June at the Euroborg, a stadium with a 20,000 capacity.

November draw
The mayor of each of the four cities was presented with a certificate from the KNVB highlighting their status as championship venues today, while their counterparts from Den Bosch, Doetinchem and Emmem were left to reflect on what might have been. The draw for the finals is due to take place on 22 November in Arnhem, when the Dutch and seven other qualifiers will be split into two groups of four for the first U21 tournament to be held in an odd year.

Extra time
UEFA decided to move the event to avoid clashes with the FIFA World Cup or UEFA European Championship. This will not only move the finals "out of the shadow of the big championships", according to UEFA CEO Lars-Christer Olsson, but also allow the hosts 18 months to prepare for the eight-team tournament rather than the current six months. KNVB general secretary Harry Been, who will oversee the 2007 showpiece, told uefa.com: "We are interested in getting good stadiums, and most importantly, full stadiums, so we need these cities to build up enthusiasm and put the event on the map." The Netherlands have also qualified for this summer's finals in Portugal.