The annual UEFA Champions Festival will take place in Munich on 16-19 May. This year the free four-day football festival will be hosted at Munich’s Olympiapark.
The first UEFA Champions Festival took place before the 2006 Paris final and has been a growing feature of the fan entertainment programme ever since in the build-up to the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Women’s Champions League finals.
The 2012 UEFA Champions Festival is open to everyone and UEFA invites fans, families, all Müncheners and visitors to the city to ‘Join the Game’ by visiting the festival and taking part in a series of activities, including the opportunity to have their photo taken with the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Women’s Champions League trophies.
The festival will open at noon on Wednesday 16 May and stay open until 8pm on Saturday 19 May. Steffi Jones, as the 2012 UEFA Women’s Champions League final ambassador, and 2012 UEFA Champions League ambassador Paul Breitner, will be on hand during the festival to meet and greet fans, who will be offered an exciting schedule of entertainment throughout the festival days, provided by the UEFA Champions League partners.
The highlight of the festival will no doubt be the Ultimate Champions match, as former European greats such as Cafu, Davor Šuker, Michael Laudrup, Steve McManaman, Youri Djorkaeff and Stéphane Chapuisat take on a team of German legends, selected by Paul Breitner. The match will take place at noon on Saturday 19 May in the historic Olympia Stadion.
In addition, children will be invited to take part in a variety of skills clinics and coaching courses led by professional football coaches and former players such as UEFA Champions Festival ambassadors Giovane Élber and Willy Sagnol, Jay-Jay Okocha and Patrik Andersson. Fans will also have the chance to visit the UEFA Museum of Champions to experience unforgettable moments of past tournaments.
Each day of the UEFA Champions Festival will have a different theme. The proceedings will kick off on Wednesday - dedicated to grassroots football - marking the 16th of May as UEFA Grassroots Day, a Europe-wide celebration of grassroots football.
The festival will also offer a stage to the 2012 UEFA Women’s Champions League final, which takes place at 6pm on Thursday 17 May in the adjacent Olympia Stadion. Therefore, Thursday will feature women’s football at the festival, with Friday being devoted to futsal.
Saturday’s programme will gear up visitors for the 2012 UEFA Champions League final, which will kick off at 8.45pm at the Fußball Arena München.
Some of the other highlights of the festival programme include:
UEFA Champions League and UEFA Women’s Champions League trophies
Fans will be able to have their photo taken with the most coveted pieces of silverware in European club football.
Ultimate Champions match
The match will take place at noon on Saturday19 May in the Olympiastadion.
Museum of Champions
Exhibits of exclusive club and player memorabilia from the great names and games of European club football bring to life the story of the European Cup.
Skill clinics and coaching courses
Football coaches and former players will host skills clinics every day.
Partner activities
Fans of all ages can participate in numerous fun activities organised by the official UEFA Champions League partners.
For all details, one may visit www.UEFA.com