Ricoh Arena Could Be Olympic Venue

Last updated : 10 August 2009 By Covsupport News Service
According to BBC Midlands Today, Coventry City's Ricoh Arena or Birmingham City's St Andrews could replace Villa Park as a 2012 Olympic venue.

Villa Park had been selected to stage preliminary round matches in the mens and women's tournaments in the 2012 games but plans for building work has meant that Aston Villa have had to withdraw their stadium from the Olympics.

Villa issued the followng statement:"The club is considering plans for major construction work over the next few years. Whilst these plans are developed, the club is unable to commit fully to hosting matches."

A statement from the London 2012 organising committee reads: "Locog is grateful to Aston Villa for its support to date, and is continuing with its planning in order to deliver a first class Olympic football tournament."

Currently, the Ricoh Arena has a bigger capacity than St Andrews (30,009) although the Blues have been planning for a new ground for some time.