FIFA media release – The FIFA Emergency Committee, which convened to ratify matters related to the Olympic Football Tournaments Athens 2004, announced today that it had given its formal approval of the venue and kick-off time for the men’s Final, as well as the format and match schedule for the women’s competition.
Today’s announcement confirmed that the Final of the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament would take place on Saturday, 28 August 2004 in Athens’ Olympic Stadium at 10:00 instead of 12:00. The decision to play the match two hours earlier than originally scheduled – taken in the interests of players’ health – will provide the benefit of cooler mid-morning temperatures on the pitch.
The FIFA Emergency Committee also approved the adoption of a modified format and match schedule for the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament. The group stage of the 10-team competition will be played with two groups of three and one group of four, with eight teams advancing to the knockout quarter-final stage. The new schedule allows fans to enjoy women’s group round games as double-headers with men’s matches and sets the women’s Final for Thursday, 26 August 2004 at 21:00 in the Athens football venue at Karaiskaki.
The decisions taken ratified the agreements that resulted from the executive-level working group meeting between FIFA, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games Athens 2004 (ATHOC) that took place in Zurich on 15 July 2003.
During the meeting, ATHOC also assured FIFA that the development of the Athens football venue at Karaiskaki would be completed on time, and that the venue would be available by the end of June 2004. FIFA welcomed these assurances, indicated its satisfaction with the current schedule, and expressed its confidence in ATHOC’s ability to deliver as promised.
The joint meeting was attended by FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, FIFA Chairman of the Organising Committee for the Olympic Football Tournaments and IOC member Issa Hayatou, IOC Olympic Games Executive Director Gilbert Felli, ATHOC Sports General Manager Makis Assimakopoulous and Football Tournaments Manager Patrick Comninos, FIFA General Secretary Dr. Urs Linsi, as well as additional staff members from the FIFA administration. For more information: FIFA Media Department – Tel.: +41-1/254 98 00 – Fax: +41-1/254 97 02 –
E-Mail: [email protected]
FIFA Communications Division / Zurich, 28 July 2003 / 2003-0081- FIFA-IOC-ATHOC-Decisions -E
Olympic Football Tournaments: FIFA Emergency Committee approves venue and kick-off time for men’s Final as well as format for women’s competition
Zurich, 28 July 2003 -The FIFA Emergency Committee, which convened to ratify matters related to the Olympic Football Tournaments Athens 2004, announced today that it had given its formal approval of the venue and kick-off time for the men’s Final, as well as the format and match schedule for the women’s competition.
Today’s announcement confirmed that the Final of the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament would take place on Saturday, 28 August 2004 in Athens’ Olympic Stadium at 10:00 instead of 12:00. The decision to play the match two hours earlier than originally scheduled – taken in the interests of players’ health – will provide the benefit of cooler mid-morning temperatures on the pitch.
The FIFA Emergency Committee also approved the adoption of a modified format and match schedule for the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament. The group stage of the 10-team competition will be played with two groups of three and one group of four, with eight teams advancing to the knockout quarter-final stage. The new schedule allows fans to enjoy women’s group round games as double-headers with men’s matches and sets the women’s Final for Thursday, 26 August 2004 at 21:00 in the Athens football venue at Karaiskaki.
The decisions taken ratified the agreements that resulted from the executive-level working group meeting between FIFA, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games Athens 2004 (ATHOC) that took place in Zurich on 15 July 2003.
During the meeting, ATHOC also assured FIFA that the development of the Athens football venue at Karaiskaki would be completed on time, and that the venue would be available by the end of June 2004. FIFA welcomed these assurances, indicated its satisfaction with the current schedule, and expressed its confidence in ATHOC’s ability to deliver as promised.
The joint meeting was attended by FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, FIFA Chairman of the Organising Committee for the Olympic Football Tournaments and IOC member Issa Hayatou, IOC Olympic Games Executive Director Gilbert Felli, ATHOC Sports General Manager Makis Assimakopoulous and Football Tournaments Manager Patrick Comninos, FIFA General Secretary Dr. Urs Linsi, as well as additional staff members from the FIFA administration.