UEFA stadium categories
UEFA stadium categories are categories for football stadiums laid out in UEFA's Stadium Infrastructure Regulations. Using these regulations, stadiums are rated as category one, two, three, or four in ascending ranking order. These categories replaced the previous method of ranking stadiums on one to five star scale in 2006.
UEFA does not publish lists of stadiums fulfilling the criteria for any of the categories defined in the UEFA Stadium Infrastructure Regulations, but all assigned stadium categories are visible in UEFA's TIME platform, which is not open to the general public.
General
If a retractable roof is present, its use will be directed by consultation between the UEFA delegate and the main assigned referee.Although the minimum stadium capacity for category four is 8,000, only one stadium with a capacity less than 60,000 has been selected to host a UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Euro finals and 30,000 for the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Nations League finals, since these regulations were introduced in 2006.
After the 2007 UEFA [Champions League Final|2007 Champions League final], UEFA President Michel Platini stated that he wanted European Cup finals to be held at stadiums with an average capacity of 70,000 to solve security issues. The hosts for the finals between 2008 and 2024 all had capacities of at least 70,000 seats—with the exceptions of 2014 and 2019 finals held with capacities of 65,000 seats. Two finals were played during the COVID-19 [pandemic in Europe|coronavirus pandemic] in 2020 and 2021 in stadiums reaching 50,000 seats with none or reduced attendances.