Champions League fan areas for city centre as cup showpiece rolls in

TWO fan areas will open in Cardiff for the Champions League final next month. While there will be no fanzone for people to watch the game live as Juventus take on Real Madrid, the two fan areas will be open in the city centre.

One will be for Juventus fans and the other for Real Madrid supporters, but only those with tickets will be able to access them.

The final, on Saturday, June 3, will see 175,000 fans arriving in the city and unprecedented levels of security deployed ahead of the game at the Principality Stadium – which is being renamed National Stadium of Wales for the event.

The fan areas will be at Churchill Way and at Callaghan Square, but which team’s fans will go where is yet to be announced.

The plan is for fans to meet in locations near the stadium before kick-off.

In both areas there will be food and drink stands but no alcohol will be served. There will also be toilets and information points.

The times when the two areas will be open to fans are subject to change, but as it stands now they will open from 7am on Saturday morning and close at around 1am on Sunday.

The advice is for fans to “travel light”, but there will be left-luggage facilities for fans in both areas.

The zones are only open for the men’s final and not the women’s final.

Throughout the week of the final there will also be a total of 68 road closures in Cardiff.

Some roads will be closed from 6am on Monday, May 29, with closures happening until Sunday, June 4.

It has previously been announced that on the day of the final an “inner secure zone” will be created and surrounded by police barriers and officers. Exactly where that zone will be is not being announced for security reasons, but no vehicles will be allowed in the zone.

All businesses and residents who will be affected have, according to the council, been contacted.

The “outer secure zone” will be staffed by council officers and resident access will be maintained at all times.

People are being told to plan ahead and only travel by car along the M4 corridor if their journey is essential.

Anyone from Cardiff is advised to travel on foot or by bus and leave their cars at home.

Head of transport for the event Tom Legg said: “A significant amount of effort is going into planning the transport arrangements for the event so we ensure the city keeps moving and those coming to Cardiff have a great experience.

“We have been working closely with our transport partners,including Network Rail, Great Western Railways, Arriva Trains Wales, National Express, Traffic Wales, Highways England, Cardiff Airport and Bristol Airport for many months.

“While an event of this scale is a fantastic opportunity for the region, there will inevitably be some local disruption due to the sheer number of people in town.

“We are embarking on a programme of activity to ensure people and businesses understand the potential impact of the event on their regular journeys, particularly on Saturday, June 3.”

South Wales Police Superintendent Steve Furnham said: “An event of this magnitude requires a largescale safety and security operation which has been in the planning along with our partners for months.

“We will be welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors to our capital city and we want them to be able to look back on their experience with great memories of their visit to Wales.”

Further information can be found at www.walesonline.co.uk